Training Series
by Kristen Verne
Summary: Part of my KH3.5 Collection: Between Sora and Riku's Mark of Mastery, and the beginning of their journey to defeat Xehanort, Lea, Riku, and Kairi ended up in one adventure after another. From getting arrested to fighting a war, from saving a land from danger to one of them getting turned into an assassin, the three just can't keep out of trouble!
1. Maybe you Can Hire

**Alright, I've decided to put all the Training Series stories into one big story!**

 **This is the First of Four Parts!**

 **Kingdom Hearts © to Disney and Square Enix!**

 **A-Team © to Universal Television**

* * *

 **Maybe You Can Hire**

* * *

"Ugh! You're such a jerk!" Kairi threw her hands up in the air and stormed away.

Riku sighed before turning to glare at Lea; the pyro looked exceptionally guilty. "Sorry Riku, I shouldn't have said that.

"Don't apologize to me. Go talk to her." The Keyblade Master watched as Lea walked over to where Kairi stood, arms crossed.

When Riku offered to train Lea and Kairi he had no idea they'd clash this hard. He figured, since Lea's Nobody had kidnapped Kairi, that there would be some tension. But, these two mixed like oil and water. He could see that Lea was trying to befriend Kairi, but she was refusing to cooperate.

Though Lea had made only a joke, Kairi took if offensively and now she was angry… again. Soon, after about five minutes of Lea trying to apologize, Kairi finally nodded and gave in. However, if Riku knew these two, there would be another spat soon.

"Riku," The boy jumped as Merlin appeared in a puff of smoke. "Oh, sorry, I only came to tell you that Master Yen Sid wants to see you and Kairi in his study."

"Thanks. Kairi, come here!" She jogged over to him, seemingly glad to be away from Lea. "Master Yen Sid wants us."

"Alright!" The princess took off for the door.

Riku watched her go; Lea came up behind him and sighed. "I don't know if she'll ever trust me…"

"She'll come around eventually, Lea. You'll see…"

The pyro gave a smile. "Yeah, you're right."

* * *

"There you are, Riku!" Kairi stood in front of the old wizard's desk.

Yen Sid nodded. Riku, I would like you two to travel to another world. As Keyblade wielders, you are supposed to keep the worlds in check and are allowed to assist in certain world affairs. As part of Kairi's training, as well as Lea's, I will have you take one or both of them to another world to assist." He stood up. "This world, in particular is very strange. There are rare instances when a world prevents one from summoning a Keyblade or using magic, forcing you to rely on other abilities. This is one such world."

"Then how do we leave from there if we can't use our Keyblades to create a corridor?"

The wizard placed a star shard on the table. "This will take you there and then return you here, to the tower, once you are finished. Now, I shall be able to monitor your location and I will do so every so often. If I check and I am unable to find you, or if you are in a dangerous position, I will either bring you back or send Lea to assist."

Riku nodded and took the star shard. "Alright. We'll leave right away."

* * *

"I wonder why we were sent here. What in this world do we need to help correct?"

The boy shrugged. "I'm sure the situation will present itself…" He looked around. "But I think a good place to start would be over there." His finder pointed at a barn, surrounded by vehicles.

The two snuck towards the barn, slipping past two armed guards. They sat in the shadows, peering between slats on the walls. Inside, a fighting ring of some sorts had been constructed out of old wood, above this, past the further two sides, were wooden bleachers, filled with fifty to sixty men. Police officers, as one could see by their uniforms, stood around the ring as two men fought it out. One of the officers stood between the bleachers and recorded the fight on film.

The larger of the two fighters, a man with tanned skin and black hair, seemed to be winning the fight. The two Keybearers watched as he gave a massive punch and sent his opponent crumpling to the ground. The spectators went wild.

A rather round police officer stepped into the ring, grinning; he turned around to the crowd. "How should we end it!?"

"FINISH HIM!"

Kairi's eyes widened. "Riku, they don't mean to kill the man who lost the fight?" Riku didn't respond.

"Finish him, Jase." The large officer looked at the winner of the fight.

"No Warden!" Jase said firmly. The warden pulled a pistol from his hip and pointed it at Jase. But turned it on the fallen man and pulled the trigger.

Riku fought the urge to charge in and stop that man, but without a Keyblade, he'd be easily beaten by sheer numbers. Kairi hid her face in her hands. "Riku, why did he have to do that!?"

"I'm sorry, Kairi…" He stood up, holding out a hand to her, when a sharp pain exploded in the back of his head and his world turned black. Kairi moved to turn, when she too was struck in the back of the head.

Two police officers dragged them to a prison truck and threw them in. One closed the doors and grinned. I wonder what Warden Beale will do to these two spies?"

"I bet it'll be interesting!"

As the barn emptied, for the fight was done, the police officers started up the truck and drove off, with Riku and Kairi in the back.

* * *

"HEY! WATCH WHERE YOU'RE GOING!" The pyro growled as the black and red van nearly hit him.

A muscular man, with dark skin and a Mohawk, rolled down the window. "Then you stay out of my way, sucker!"

Lea took a deep breath to calm himself. "Look, sorry. I'm new around here. Oh, by the way, do you know the way to Strikersville prison?"

"Oh, and why do you want to know that?" A man with white hair, holding a cigar between his teeth, came around the van.

"I may or may not be planning to break two of my friends out…" Lea grinned, trying to come off as joking.

The van door opened, and a man with dirty-blonde hair grinned out. "You don't say…"

"Hey, Hannibal," a woman looked out at the man with the cigar. "Maybe he could help us and we help him."

Hannibal took the cigar out of his mouth. "Well, sir, we just happen to be on a similar venture to Strikersville prison. To rescue a friend of B.A.'s." He jabbed a thumb towards the driver. "Maybe, if you assist us, we could get your friends out too."

"Works for me!"

"What's your name kid?"

"The name's Lea…" he scowled, "and I'm not a kid."

Hannibal grinned. "Nice to meet you Lea. I'm Hannibal Smith, this is B.A., that's Face, Amy, and Murdock." The pyro had noticed the man in the back seat, beside Amy, wearing a baseball cap, but the man hadn't spoken yet.

As Lea climbed in beside Face, Amy spoke up. "So what do your two friends look like?"

"One's about eighteen years old, with silver hair, and the other is a girl with red hair, who's about 17."

Then, Murdock spoke, in a dramatic voice. "How dare that villainous swine! Taking captive two young people in the flower of their youth!"

"Um," Face leaned over, "he's insane… literally."

Lea's eyes widened. What kind of people had he fallen in with?

* * *

"Wait, so we're trying to get arrested?"

Hannibal took the cigar out of his mouth, as he climbed into the passenger seat of the rental car. "That's right. And getting arrested is the easy part." B.A. took the wheel, while Lea and Murdock sat in the back.

The Keyblade wielder had heard plenty of crazy plans in the past, but this was ridiculous; playing drunk to get arrested and then, while being locked up themselves, they break out Jase, Riku, and Kairi. At least Face and Amy were on the outside, so the plan could work…

The man with the Mohawk hit the gas and the car sped wildly down the road, out of control. It didn't take long for two troopers to pull them over.

"Alright! Get out of the car!"

The four stumbled out of the car; Lea felt silly, pretending to be drunk, but he kept up the act. The white haired man, took his cigar out of his mouth and lumbered towards the officers. "Heya sweetheart…! Mind getting me another round…?"

"Shut up!"

"Aw, forget it pops," the pyro slurred, "that elephant won't get us nuthin'…"

The large officer loomed over Lea. "Who you calling elephant, punk!?"

"Hmm… well, you're the only one around here big enough to be an elephant." Hannibal wobbled and grinned.

"WHY YOU LITTLE!?" the officer charged forward, only for his partner to hold him back. "ARREST THEM! TAKE THEM DOWNTOWN! CALL SHERIFF BEALE! TELL HIM, WE CAUGHT SOME YANKEES SPEEDIN' THROUGH TOWN!"

The partner spoke quietly, either to calm his companion, or to hide something. "Hey, calm down. Remember, the judge is send down an investigator, and we could get in serious trouble." The officer nodded and took a deep breath, before the two of them climbed back into their car and drove off.

"Well, that didn't work…"

"You're crazy, Hannibal! While we're trying to get arrested, Jase could be murdered!" B.A. growled.

The pyro nodded. "And who knows what's happening to Riku and Kairi!"

The white-haired man suddenly got a strange look in his eyes. "B.A., let me drive."

As they pulled out onto the road, Murdock sighed. "He's on the jazz."

"The jazz?"

The crazy man grinned wildly and spoke ominously. "Oh, you'll see…"

The car turned into the parking lot of the sheriff's office. Hannibal aimed the car at one wall and floored it. The car sped towards the wall, and Lea's eyes widened. For a moment, they went airborne, before they smashed through the thin, sheetrock wall.

As they recovered, the sheriff, who had been sitting at the desk that their car now sat atop stood up and ran over to the driver's side and stammered. "Y-YOURE ALL GOING TO JAIL!"

Hannibal merely grinned, taking the cigar out of this mouth. "Thank you…"

"I hate the jazz…"

* * *

Lea felt so uncomfortable in these prison clothes, but he supposed it was for the best; Riku had been telling him to ditch that old coat anyways. He jerked as the prison truck came to a stop.

The back of the truck opened and a man, who'd cuffed them, by the name of Sneed, yelled at them. All of them jumped out, except for B.A. "Hey! Get out of there!"

"Um, sir." Hannibal smiled. "My friend here is a deaf and a mute, only I can speak with him, in sign language."

"Tell him to get out then!"

Now, Lea didn't know what this sign language was, but he hoped that B.A. playing deaf and dumb would work. Sneed seemed to fall for it as Hannibal held out his cuffed wrists. "If you want me to be able to speak with him, you'll need to un-cuff me." The man was quickly un-cuffed and he began to wave his hands in strange ways, in order to fake this 'sign language'. B.A., got out of the truck and the four of them were led inside Strikersville prison.

Lea looked around nervously. According to Hannibal, this prison was holding illegal fights and killing the losers. They offered the winners a chance to escape, but were then hunted down and killed. The plan was to get B.A., Hannibal, and himself put as candidates for the fight program. So, they assumed there would be some kind of test in the prison yard.

Murdock, as planned, was taken away for psychiatric evaluation, and he needed it anyways. The pyro looked around for his friends. A group of men, huddled around a fenced in area, caught his eye. A few seemed to be trying to climb the eight-foot fence; Lea and the others pushed past and saw why.

Kairi sat in the fenced in area, dressed in prison clothes. The only way to see her was through the chain-link gate, which everyone huddled around. Lea growled as he heard all the men cat-calling her, and trying to get her to come to them.

One man, managed to get over the fence. The princess stood up, backing away, ready to fight back. However, this man was pretty hefty and would easily be able to overpower her. Lea turned to Hannibal. "I need over that fence, now!"

The man nodded and cupped his hands, allowing the pyro to get high enough the launch himself over the fence. He grabbed the man around the neck and held on tight.

"Lea!?" Kairi couldn't believe it, but here he was.

The other man was trying to get out of the young man's hold, but soon his struggling stopped and his eyes closed. Lea laid him down and smiled up at Kairi. "You ok?"

"You have no idea how happy I am to see you!" She ran up to him, wrapping her arms around his neck.

"Wow, Princess. Never thought you'd hug me…"

She let go and smirked. "Don't push it. But I am glad to see you. They took Riku away and hid me in here. Apparently, they're not supposed to keep women here, but they didn't want me telling anyone what they're doing…"

"The fights?"

"How did you…?"

Lea grinned. "I made some friends." His voice lowered. "They're here to help break you, Riku, and another guy out." He turned around to see Hannibal used a shovel to break the gate lock. "And here they are…"

"So, Lea, this is Kairi?"

"Yes it is. Kairi, I'd like you to meet Hannibal and B.A." The girl curtsied.

A largely built man, came in and got in front of B.A.. He didn't seem interested in Kairi. "Hello meat! I'm your boss around here, names Deke; now, turn out your pockets!" He turned, reaching into Hannibal's shirt pocket, pulling out one of the cigars.

"That is personal property," The white-haired man took the cigar back, before pulling a cigarette pack from Deke's pocket. "Hey, dirtball, you know anything about a Jase Tataro or a kid named Riku?"

The man snarled but, with B.A. looming nearby, he decided to turn away. "I don't have to answer to you!" Hannibal tossed him back his cigarettes before Deke left.

Kairi looked up at Lea, who had stepped in front of her when Deke had come near. "Lea, I was wondering…"

"Yes?"

"Why are you helping us? And, I don't just mean right now; why are you helping Riku, me, and Sora at all? You were part of the Organization; you fought against us and kidnapped me. Why would you help us now?"

"Well…" He scratched the back of his head. "There are several reasons…" He got a faraway look in his eyes, one of sorrow.

However, just as he was about to speak, one of the other prisoners, who'd had his eyes on Kairi, came up behind Lea with a shovel in hand. The princess shoved the pyro out of the way and the man missed. But he dropped the shovel and grabbed Kairi's arm. The girl twisted out of his grip and kicked him in the stomach.

Lea grabbed the man and spun around, chopping the man in the back of the neck, sending him crumpling to the ground. "That's what happens when you mess with us."

"You two make quite the team." Hannibal nodded. The two Keybearers laughed. If only he knew…

A large man, bigger than Deke came in, going up to B.A. "Turn out your pockets!" B.A. didn't move at all.

"Um," Lea piped up. "He's deaf and mute, so he can't understand you. He can't even read lips, but my friend here can use sign language to speak to him, if you'd like."

"Do it then!"

Hannibal used his 'sign language' Hannibal and B.A. exchanged 'words', before Hannibal turned to the large man. "What did he say?"

"He said, that he won't do anything for a pompous sloth that has no more brains then a dead dinosaur… and that your mother is a fat walrus."

The man yelled in rage before slugging the man with the mohawk. B.A. took the hit and punched back, laying the man out, with one blow.

"Nice job!"

Minutes later, Sneed came walking over to them. "All of you follow me. Even you, missy."

As they followed the deputy, Hannibal turned back to Lea and grinned. "I love it when a plan comes together.

* * *

Lea saw Face and Amy as Sneed led the four of them down to some cells further into the prison. According to Hannibal's plan, Face was pretending to be a prison psychologist, while Amy was supposed to be following a story on the prison, for a newspaper.

When they reached their new cells, Kairi recognized the man, punching the bag that hung from the ceiling as Jase. Riku held the bag for Jase, as he punched it. Riku turned and saw Lea and Kairi. He looked surprised and came over, the instant they were in the cell. "How did this happen?"

"Riku! I came to rescue you guys!"

"Good job…" the Keyblade Master turned to Kairi. "And you were supposed to stay out of danger, and away from the fights."

Lea held up a hand. "That was kinda my fault. She saved me from getting beaned with a shovel."

"Huh? I thought you didn't trust him, Kairi?"

The girl shrugged and looked at the other red-head. "We're… working on that." She looked around, "Where did B.A. and Hannibal go?"

"The warden just took them. So, how do you expect us to escape now that you're in the same boat as us?" Riku cocked an eyebrow at Lea.

The pyro smiled. "Hannibal's got that all covered, trust me." With that, he sat down, leaning against the wall.

Riku and Kairi shrugged and sat beside him. "Lea, you never finished telling me why you were helping us…"

"Oh yeah." He smiled. "Well, for starters, I felt like I should make up for what I did to you and Sora. You know that I feel bad about kidnapping you, and I've been trying to make up for it. Another reason is, that I made a promise; a promise to always bring my friends back. Now that Roxas is gone, helping Sora is the best way to keep that promise, and now that Xehanort has Isa, I want to save him as well. And then there's…" he paused. "Oh, never mind the last one, the first two are reason enough."

The two islanders looked at each other and then back at Lea, who now had his eyes closed. Riku found his reasoning sound, and Kairi too, but she felt like that third reason included her and she wanted to understand why, but she decided to not ask.

Silence reigned until Hannibal and B.A. came back. Hannibal winked at Lea. "It's all coming together."

* * *

Minutes turned to hours in that dark cell before Warden Beale, Sneed, and another deputy named Trask, came to the cell. They opened the door and moved Jason, B.A., Lea, Riku, and Kairi out. "Let's go. Mr. Smith, tell your friend to hold out his hands. He's leaving, along with Jase and the kids."

"Why are we leaving?" Hannibal wined as the others were cuffed.

"Not you, just them. We're have a tournament tonight. Riku vs. Lea, Baraccus vs. Kairi, and the winners will face off. The winner of those matches will fight Jase." B.A. glanced at Kairi, who looked genuinely concerned, as they were led off.

They all stayed silent until they got into the prison truck. B.A. spoke up, surprising Riku and Kairi. "Don't worry, he looked at the girl. I'll try not to hit you, but I don't want us both to die, so we've got to make it look real. Just keep moving and I'll act like I move slowly until help shows up."

"B.A.," Jase looked at his old friend. "I'm sorry, but none of us are getting out of this one."

* * *

Kairi looked at the cuff which held her and B.A. together; Lea, Riku, and Jase stood, at gunpoint off to the side. B.A. had been slowly throwing punches, so she could dodge, but the crowd was getting annoyed and yelling for the real fighting to start.

The girl threw a few punches and kicks, knowing it wouldn't hurt the large man, but she didn't see the massive fist coming towards her. B.A.'s fist hit her cheek, sending her world spiraling. The princess's knees buckled and she fell, much to the delight of the spectators.

The warden stepped into the ring and pointed to Kairi. "Finish her!"

Before anything else could be done, the barn doors smashed open and a black and red van backed in. The back doors swung open and Hannibal, holding an automatic rifle, fired a bunch of rounds over everyone's heads. B.A. grabbed Warden Beale in a headlock.

Hannibal smirked and yelled. "Alright, everyone you're all going to sit down, nice and easy. And, throw all your weapons into the ring. Let's go!" Everyone did as they were told. "Hey guards, un-cuff my friends before I put a few holes in you!" The guards moved quickly to do his bidding.

"I knew you guys wouldn't let us down." B.A. smiled as he was un-cuffed.

"Wait! You're not mute anymore!?"

"That's right, sucker! And you're not warden anymore!"

"Hey Warden!" the silver-haired Keyblade Master walked up to Beale and slugged him. "That's for putting Kairi in the ring!"

Lea picked up Kairi and he and Riku left. "I think they can handle those guys…"

"No kidding. Hey, Kairi, are you alright?"

"Yeah…" she groaned, "but my cheek feels like it's on fire."

"We'll have Master Yen Sid check on it, when we get back." The pyro set her down and reached into his shirt. "So glad they didn't take this from me, like they took yours." He pulled out a Star Shard.

"Lea, thanks."

The pyro smiled. "Don't thank me just yet…" He activated the star shard and they shot off into the starry night.

* * *

 **First Part of the Training Series is done!**

 **I hope you guys enjoyed it!**

* * *

 **As I do in all my stories, I will put Bible verses at the bottom of each chapter. If you don't want to read them, then don't. I do know some people who like seeing them down here. If you don't like it, please do not get on my case. The verses are here to encourage, not to condemn.**

 **1 Corinthians 10:13 ESV**

 ** _"No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man. God is faithful, and he will not let you be tempted beyond your ability, but with the temptation, he will also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it."_**


	2. Lord of the Keyblade- part 1

**Hi!**

 **This chapter had to be split in two…**

 **But whatever.**

 **Kingdom hearts © to Disney and Square Enix!**

 **Lord of the Rings © to J.R.R. Tolkien!**

* * *

 **Lord of the Keyblade: part 1**

* * *

Sora looked up at the sky, fingering through his pockets for the gift from Yen Sid. He paused as something began pulling on his pant leg. "We already went through this…" He looked down at the Meow Wow, who whimpered up at him, begging him not to leave. "I'm going to the Realm of Light. You can't come there."

The small creature whimpered again. Sora knelt down, patting its head before summoning his Keyblade; holding it out, the weapon shot a beam of bright light, into the sky. The Keybearer looked up at the hole in the sky before fishing out the Star Shard, from his pocket. Light surrounded him and he shot up into the sky, encased in light.

* * *

As Sora floated about in space, he looked around. So many worlds to go train on… however, one caught his eye. Home. It had been some time since he went back to the islands. And, honestly, he wanted to see Kairi and his parents.

The training could wait one more day… he zoomed off towards the familiar islands. He appeared on the beach, one look at the sun and he knew it was early afternoon; his parents wouldn't be getting off work for a few hours.

He jogged across the sand, to the small one-story house, where he'd grown up. Sora unlocked the door and went inside, being careful to lock the door back. He wanted to surprise his parents.

His room was still there, but it was much tidier than he'd left it… that was his mom. When he was gone, his mom would rearrange and tidy his room; she said it was so she'd never forget him again. During his time when Naminé was fixing his memories, even his own parents forgot him. His mom thought that his room was the water-heater closet, until she got her memories back. So, now, when he was gone, she'd go in and be in his room constantly, just to make sure she'd never forget again. And by the comic book on his desk, it looked like his dad had been doing the same thing…

Sora laid down on his bed, without ruffling the sheets too much. Especially since it looked like his mom had ironed the sheets… he really needed to tell her to calm down. He closed his eyes and rolled on his side, hoping to get a few hours of sleep.

He'd just started to drift away when something rough began touching his cheek. "What the…?" He rolled back, and found himself staring into the green eyes of an orange cat. "Ginger… what are you doing here? I though Mom and Dad would've sent you to the shelter… oh wait… I found you. Of course they wouldn't get rid of you."

The kitty mewed, rubbing his face on Sora's shoulder, purring loudly. She jumped onto Sora's chest, curling up to take a nap. The boy patted the cat's head before going to sleep himself.

* * *

"SORA!?"

The Keybearer sat up, at the voice, startling the cat, who yowled and streaked out of the room. His mother stood in the doorway, staring at him. "Mom… you scared me, and the cat."

Marion didn't reply; she slowly walked over and hugged him. "My little boy! I'm so glad you're home!"

"Good to see you too, Mom." He hugged her back. When she pulled away, her eyes were sparkling. "Now that you're home again I'll make you your favorite food for a week and…"

"Mom, I'm only staying one night."

His mom stared at him. "Why just one night?"

Sora smiled, softly. "I have to get back to my training. But, I missed you and Dad, so I came to visit."

"Oh… I see." The light left her eyes for a moment, before they brightened up again. "Anyways, I'll still make you your favorite dish! What would you like for dinner?"

"Ichigo-ni!"

"I should've know…" come on, let's go start cooking. And how about some muchi for dessert?"

Sora jumped up. "You know it!"

Marion looked over at he son, she'd begun making dinner, and was letting him sit and play with his cat. She greatly worried about him, and was glad that he was home, however she wished he would stay. Ever since he'd come back after those two years, things had been different.

Her son was not the same little boy she'd known and raised. He'd turned into a strong young man. She loved him, but he seemed even more different than ever before. She was about to speak up and ask him something, but the front door opened.

"Dad!"

"Sora!?" Levi came over and hugged his son. "Hey there, kiddo! I'm glad you're home!"

"I'm glad to be home too, Dad."

Sora smiled up at his dad who grinned back. "So, how did that test-thingy go?"

"Oh… well, I didn't pass… but Riku did."

"I'm sorry, Sora." Marion saw her son's face go from sad to joyful in a second. She pulled the soup from the stove and put the pot on the table. "Why don't you tell us what happened, during dinner?"

The three of them sat down, with the cat curling up in Sora's lap. Levi shook his head. "I mean I like seafood, but seriously son, how can this sea urchin soup be your favorite food?"

"Don't know…" the Keybearer dished himself a bowl and began eating. "So, what do you want to know?"

"Everything about the test…"

Sora began his story, his parents hanging on his every word. He saw the wonder in their faces when he described the worlds he visited, and the horror he saw when he told them of Xehanort's trap and how he walked right into it.

"So the one who's been behind everything is this Xehanort guy…? And he's basically been brainwashing people into helping him, and he wants you now?"

"More or less," Sora sighed. "And, he can track me if I have an x on me so, yeah."

His parents looked at one another, "Is there anything we can do to help?"

"Well, nothing that I can think of… but just letting me stay the night is all I really want." Sora smiled.

Levi nodded. "Son, this is your home too, you're always welcome back here, even if it's just for one night."

The boy stood up, holding the cat. "Thanks! Now, I was going to see Kairi before I went to bed."

"Oh, I thought you'd know… Riku came and got her. Said, she was going to receive some training."

Sora cocked his head. Since when was Kairi getting training? "Guess Master Yen Sid wants to train her to use her Keyblade. So, we're both training."

"Speaking of your training," Marion looked at her son curiously. "Are Donald and Goofy going with you to help you train?"

"Nope, just me." Her son grinned, but it faltered at his parent's concerned faced. "What's wrong?"

"Sora, I don't think that's a good idea." The boy's father frowned. Sora cocked his head in confusion. "See, you need to have someone with you. Son, we've raised you and we know you, possibly better than you know yourself. You may seem like a literal ray of sunshine, but you rely on your friends and loved ones to stay optimistic."

Marion nodded. "You're right. Sora, when you were alone during your Mark of Mastery exam, Xehanort found a way to implant doubt into you, and you didn't have anyone to help you cheer up. We know that you can be so happy nearly all the time, but when doubts and misgivings come your way, either your friends or family cheer you up, or you make yourself cheer up, for the sake of others."

"Without friends, you'll be in trouble, and you know it…" They saw their son's face light up with understanding. "So, please… either train around friends or just find someone to go with you…"

Sora smiled and nodded. "I will…" His parents smiled as he stood up, the cat tucked under one arm, and his plate in the other. He put the plate in the dishwasher and came back. "I'm going to shower and head to bed. I might get up early and leave before you get up so…" He hugged them and allowed his mom to kiss his cheek. "See you soon…"

"Be careful, baby."

"Son, take care of yourself…"

The Keybearer let them go and set the cat down before going to shower.

* * *

Sora yawned, sitting up, trying not to disturb the cat on his bed. He gave Ginger one last pat as he got up. For some reason, his drive clothes were not where he left them, draped over his desk chair, nor were his shoes.

"Where did Mom put my clothes…?"

It was obviously just before dawn, as he tip-toed down the hallway. Sitting on the table were two boxes, one a brightly-colored tin box: the lunch box he'd used ever since he was a kindergartener. A note lay between the two boxes; he picked it up and smiled.

His mom had written the note:

 _Sora,_

 _I know you're probably up before us and heading off. But, I hope you don't mind me mothering you a bit before you go._

 _In the big box is a new set of clothes. I say "new", but they're your dad's old training clothes from college. Yes, the ones you see in all the family photos. By this point, your drive clothes are most likely burned. I know you loved them, but you said that Xehanort could track you if you had an X on you. And, have you seen how many X's there were on your clothes!?_

 _I don't want you in danger, so I did what I had to._

 _And, I know you're 17, but I made your lunch just how you like it. Your tuna salad sandwich is cut into triangles. There's some potato chips in there too, some pineapple slices, and a candy bar._

 _I love you, baby, and your dad does too. Please, be safe and take care of yourself._

 _Love, Mom._

Sora smiled warmly before folding the note up and opening the large box. There were is father's old training clothes: black shorts, a red short-sleeve jacket, and a navy shirt. The shoes with it were black with red, white, and gray stripes.

He changed into the clothes, grabbed the lunch box, and headed out.

* * *

As he floated peacefully, in the space between worlds, Sora sighed. "Where to go…?" However, in his mind, he could hear his parents, telling him to find someone to travel with. "But who can I go with?"

 _"You're never alone, Sora."_

"What!?" He looked around and didn't see anyone.

 _"Up here, Sora…"_ The boy looked up. _"Sora, I'm in your mind."_

Sora paused. "In my mind…? Are you, Roxas?" The voice did remind him of Roxas.

 _"Well, no. I'm not Roxas, but I'm sorta like him. Let's just say I'm an old friend, and we'll leave it at that."_

"Well, don't be surprised that I do kinda doubt you," Sora shrugged. "It's just voices in your head is usually a sign of being crazy."

The voice laughed. _"That is true. Don't worry, you're not crazy, you just have more residents in your heart than you think. So, since I'm here, I'll be that other person your parents wanted you to travel with. I know tons of spells that you don't. I'll help you train!"_

Sora almost thought he was crazy, but for some strange reason, he believed the voice. "Ok… so, do you have a name, 'strange voice in my mind'? The voice laughed but didn't respond. Sora waited for about 5 minutes before sighing, "If you don't want to tell me, just say so and I'll make one up for you."

 _"I'd rather not say my name…"_

"Well, how about just 'friend'? When you're ready to tell me your real name, I'll let you."

 _"Sounds good."_

Sora smiled. "So, where to, friend?"

 _"You pick, Sora!"_

"Let's pick a random one!" He grinned and let the magic from the star shard take them wherever it wanted…

* * *

They landed on a new world, no clue as to what they would find. Sora found himself standing in a field of tall grass with rocky clefts all around. Sora moved to say something, but paused as he heard the sound of horses, running in their direction.

Thirty men, came towards him, all looked like warriors, and some were dressed more regal than others. One man, with a white beard, and all white clothes, held a long white staff. Another, with golden blonde hair, and an aged face, wore garments or rich red and green. One looked more ragged than the other men, but his face was gentle and kind, and he held a kingly aura about him. Two riders sat on one horse; one, a tall man with pointed ears, and the other, short with a large beard. Two smaller men, with curly red hair, stuck their heads out from behind two others.

The horses pulled to a stop as they came to Sora. The man dressed the most regally, looked down at him, and spoke sharply. "Who are you, boy? And, what is your errand in these parts?"

"My name's Sora, I'm only passing through. I don't mean any harm." The boy felt nervous under all the glares he was getting.

 _"These guys are some tough customers…"_ Sora didn't speak out loud, but he affirmed his friend's comment, in his mind.

The man, who had the more ragged look, glanced around, looking concerned. "It is not safe to travel alone in these parts, Sora."

"Thanks for the warning, sir, but I can handle myself."

"Oh, is that so?" the thickly-bearded man grunted. "I see no weapon on you, young sir."

The Keybearer moved to summon his Keyblade, but the man in all white held up a hand. "I think that there is more to this young lad, than meets the eye."

"Well," the boy gave his bright, trademark grin. "You know who I am, but I don't know you."

The man in white smiled back at him. "I am called Gandalf the White." He gestured to each member as he said their names. "This is Aragorn, son of Arathron, Gimli, son of Gloin, and Legolas of the woodland realm. And these two, small ones are Meriadoc Brandybuck and Peregrin Took." Gandalf then gestured to the royally robed man. "And this, is Theoden, son of Thengal: King of Rohan."

"It's nice to meet all of you."

Theoden gave him kind smile. "Ride back with us to our city of Edoras, we would be honored by your company." A young man, led a horse to Sora, who swung himself up, onto its back.

The Keybearer, who'd never ridden a horse before, hung around the back of the procession. "Sora," He looked up to see Gandalf riding beside him. "You are not of this world. Am I correct?"

"How did you…?" The boy paused; he got a certain feeling from the old man, the same feeling he got around Yen Sid… that there was some strong, hidden power, within him. "Sir, are you a wizard?"

"You could call me a wizard…" He chuckled. "And you wield a powerful weapon… a Keyblade, am I right?" Sora nodded. "Then I assume you are under the teaching of Yen Sid."

"Should've known, that wizards get to know one another…"

Gandalf smiled. "In our order there was myself, the, now deposed, Saruman the White, Radagast the Brown, and the two blues: Yen Sid and Merlin."

Sora shook his head with a smile. "So, what's the story of this world?"

As they rode, the old wizard told him everything which had gone on recently. He heard about a dark lord, a magical ring, and the end of this world. A single hobbit was going to take the ring to some placed called Modor and destroy it. And, the people they were traveling with, were just in a large battle. Confined in a place called Helm's Deep, where they fought to survive against an army of 10,000.

"That's… quite a story…"

"Indeed," the wizard nodded. "And what about you? What is your story?"

Sora began to give the old man, the quickest version of his story, as possible. The old man was very curious and listened until they reached a town on a hill. A large wooden house stood at the top of the hill and a large wooden fence surrounded the entire place.

"So, this is Edoras?"

"Indeed…"

They entered the city and Sora followed everyone up to the building atop the hill, which was apparently the equivalent of a castle in this kingdom. The boy watched as the people prepared for a great feast, to commemorate their victory at Helms Deep. He felt a little out of place; he hadn't fought in the battle, so he didn't feel very comfortable either helping or attending.

"Hello there!" One of the hobbits, Pippin, as the others called him, came and sat down beside him. "You don't look very cheerful."

"It's more like I don't belong here. I didn't fight in any battle, so I'm probably just going to skip the party tonight." He eyed the large casks of ale being brought into the great hall. "And my mom would never approve of me being around all this alcohol…"

A pair of feet walked up beside him. "If you do not feel comfortable, then you do not have to attend." Sora looked up to see Aragorn smiling down at him.

"Thank you, Aragorn." The boy stood up and went to the guest chambers to lie down.

As he lay against the sheets, the voice in his head spoke again. _"They all seem pretty nice. But, man, I never expected us to run into someone, who's in a wizarding order with Master Yen Sid."_

"Me neither, but it's kinda cool." He sighed, "This world needs help. They're in a war, and we can help them."

 _"Yep!"_

The two talked for an hour or so, before Sora drifted off to sleep.

* * *

"GANDALF! GANDALF HELP!" Sora sat up at the shouting. First thing he noticed, was that the room was full of people. Second, he saw Pippin holding a glowing, black orb; the hobbit looked as if he was screaming.

The Keybearer leapt from his bed and grabbed the orb, tearing it away from the hobbit. Instantly, he saw things in the blackness of the object: an eye of fire, a field of silver grass, under a moon-lit sky. And, he saw his friends, lying in that field; Lea, Riku, Mickey, Donald, and Goofy, lying dead… blood covering them. And, Kairi, lay against a tree, her face purple and a handprint could be seen around her neck. And, suddenly, two other figures appeared, lying face-down in a creek: a blue-haired young woman and a brown-haired young man.

Sora dropped the orb and fell back, the vision still haunting his mind.

Gandalf threw a cloth over the orb and turned to Pippin. "FOOL OF A TOOKE!" The young hobbit lay still, eyes wide open. The wizard ran to him, holding the small man's hand; he muttered something under his breath and touched Pippin's cheek.

The hobbit gasped, and woke up. "G-Gandalf, forgive me…"

"Look at me!" the wizard spoke sharply. "What did you see?"

"A-a tree… there was a white tree in a courtyard of stone. It was dead… the city was burning…"

"Minas Tirith? Is that what you saw?"

Pippin's eyes widened with fear. "And I saw… I saw him!" Everyone froze, knowing who he meant; even Sora, who'd seen him too… Sauron. "I could hear his voice in my head!"

"What did you tell him? Speak!"

"He asked me my name… I didn't answer… He hurt me!" The hobbit's face contorted in pain and fear.

Gandalf leaned over him, worry evident in his voice. "What did you tell him about Frodo and the Ring!?" Pippin's eyes widened further…

* * *

"There was no lie in Pippin's eyes…" Gandalf looked over those gathered: Pippin, Merry, Theoden, Aragorn, Gimli, Legolas, and Sora. "A fool, but an honest fool he remains. He told Sauron nothing of Frodo and the Ring. We've been strangely fortunate; Pippin saw in the Palantir, a glimpse of the enemy's plan. Sauron moves to strike the city of Minas Tirith. His defeat at Helm's Deep has shown our enemy one thing. He knows that the Heir of Elendil has come forth…" Sora cocked his head in confusion, but he saw a few of the others staring at Aragorn. "Men are not as weak as he supposed; there is courage still. Strength enough, perhaps, to challenge him. Sauron fears this. He will not risk the peoples of Middle Earth uniting under one banner. He will raze Minas Tirith to the ground before he sees a king return to the throne of men." The wizard looked over at the king of Rohan. "If the beacons of Gondor are lit, Rohan must be ready for war."

Theoden took a deep breath. "Tell me, why should we ride to the aid of those who did not come to ours? What do we owe Gondor?"

Sora moved to speak up, but decided against it. In this room of kings and great warriors, he felt like he did not have the right to speak. Aragorn broke the silence. "I will go."

"No!"

"They must be warned!"

"They will be…" Gandalf walked over to the man, and spoke softly in his ear. Sora heard something about 'black ships', but nothing else. The wizard turned back to the rest of them. "Understand this: Things are now in motion that cannot be undone. I ride for Minas Tirith…" his eyes looked over at the two hobbits. "And I won't be going alone."

* * *

As Gandalf took Pippin to prepare for their journey, Aragorn went over to Sora. "Gandalf says that you're a warrior."

"I've been in my fair share of battles…"

"I understand we can count on your help, then?" the man smiled.

The Keybearer nodded. "Of course, and if you don't believe I can fight, I don't mind showing you."

"I believe you, but Gimli does not." The ragged man smirked. "You and I shall have to spar, and he should watch. I must go see to Merry right now, but later we shall test your fighting skills." He walked off, leaving Sora sitting on the steps of the large building.

 _"Looks like we're in the thick of it now…"_

"Yep… guess we are…"

* * *

Riku watched as Lea and Kairi began sparring. The two seemed to be having fun; their last adventure broke some tension between the two red-heads. They'd taken to teasing each other, constantly, and made for constant humor.

The boy heard a "poof" noise behind him and knew, instantly, that Merlin had come into the room. "Hi Merlin…"

"Hello, Riku, my boy. How is the training coming?"

"Much better." The boy looked over at the old wizard. "I assume you or Master Yen Side need us."

Merlin nodded. "We have both received a message from a fellow wizard, Gandalf. He said that Sora is on his world, and is assisting them in their war."

"Sora?" Kairi and Lea stopped to listen. "Where is he?"

"A world called Middle Earth. Gandalf has heard that there are more Keyblade wielders and he has requested your assistance." Merlin smiled. "I think it would be a good experience. Miss Kairi hasn't had any true battle experience yet."

Riku nodded. "We'll get a Star Shard and head over there."

"Thank you."

* * *

The light of the Star Shard hit the ground. Lea groaned. "I miss using corridors…"

"Too bad…" Kairi stretched her arms and looked up at the towering white city that stood above them. "Whoa…!"

Riku let out a deep breath. "Let's find this Gandalf."

"You do not have to look far." The three turned to see a white horse with a white-clad, white bearded rider, and a small curly-haired man. "I am Gandalf the White. And, I can assume that you three are Riku, Lea, and Kairi."

The three nodded. "Yes sir. So, what do you need us to do?"

"Follow me into the city. Pippin and I will speak to the steward here, and then we will explain all to you."

Riku gave another nod. "Alright, we'll follow you."

* * *

 **I was going to make this one chapter, but since I added the bit at the front, I had to cut this thing in half. The second half will be much longer, but who cares.**

 **I really enjoyed doing the top part; other than in the roleplays that Nintendoman01 and I do, I never have gotten to play around with the characters of Sora's parents. So, this was a ton of fun!**

 **Please review!**

* * *

 **Psalm 100:5**

 ** _"For the Lord is good. His unfailing love continues forever, and his faithfulness continues to each generation."_**


	3. Lord of the Keyblade- part 2

**Here's the next chapter,**

 **I hope you guys like the chapter!**

 **Kingdom Hearts © to Disney and Square Enix!**

 **LOTR © to J.R.R. Tolkin!**

* * *

 **Lord of the Keyblade part 2**

* * *

Kairi, Riku, and Lea stood followed the Hobbit and Wizard up to the top of the white city. Gandalf spoke some things to Pippin, which the Keybearers didn't really understand.

"I don't like this place," Riku clenched his fists. "I feel two different forces of darkness: one strong, and one not." He turned outside the city, where they all saw a mountain range, with fire raging behind it. "One force from there." He turned back to the throne room. "And the other from in there."

Lea sighed. "Well, that's where Gandalf is heading… and something tells me if we go in there, we will be so confused. I say we wait here until Gandalf and Pippin return."

"I agree," Riku nodded. He looked up at the white tree which stood in the middle of the courtyard; guards surrounded the plant. The young Keyblade Master approached one of the soldiers. "Excuse me, what is so important about this tree?"

"This is the tree of the king. It blooms when the rightful king is on the throne. One day, it will bloom again."

Riku looked at the tree, and despite its dead appearance, life seemed to be flowing through it. The throne room doors opened and the wizard and hobbit came storming out. "Uh oh…"

"A thousand years this city as stood and now, at the whim of a madman, it will fall! And the white tree, the tree of the King will never bloom again." Gandalf fumed.

Pippin looked up at him. "Why are they still guarding it?"

Whatever happened in the throne room, seemed to make the wizard furious. The Keybearers followed, the two down the walkway, as he began to seethe. "They guard it because they have hope. A faint and fading hope that one day it will flower. That a king will come and this city will be as it once was before it fell into decay. The old wisdom born out of the west was forsaken. Kings made tombs more splendid than the houses of the living and counted the names of their decent dearer than the names of their sons. Childless lords sat in aged hall musing on heraldry, or in high cold towers asking questions of the stars. And so the people of Gondor fell into ruin. The line of Kings failed. The white tree withered. The rule of Gondor was given over to lesser men."

Kairi looked down. "It's sad that a place this beautiful has fallen so much. I bet it used to be even grander than it is now."

They reached the end of the parapet and stared out at the dark mountains, which loomed over this beautiful city. The hobbit sighed. "Mordor…"

"Yes, there it lies." The wizard looked over at the Keybearers. The enemy we fight, comes from that land. Did Yen Sid explain what we fight against?"

Riku nodded. "He told us some of it. That a dark lord is trying to take over this world, and that there's a ring of power, which is his greatest weapons, but can also be used to stop him."

"Indeed. The ring is on its way to Mordor as we speak…"

Lea leaned over the wall, eyes towards the darkening clouds which drew ever nearer. "Looks like a storm's coming."

"This is not the weather of the world. This is a device of Sauron's making. A broil of fume he sends head of his hosts. The Orcs of Mordor have no love of daylight, so he covers the face of the sun to ease their passage on the road to war. When the shadow of Mordor reaches this city, it will begin." The old man's voice sounded tired.

The long silence that followed, only broke when Pippin gave a deep sigh. "Well… Minas Tirith… very impressive. So where are we off to next?"

Lea fixed his eyes on the mountains ahead, "I don't think we're getting out of this that easily."

Gandalf nodded, "That is right, it's too late for that. There's no leaving this city. Help must come to us."

* * *

The two boys sat in their room, which Gandalf had procured for them; Kairi came in and stood against balcony, staring out at Mordor. "Guys, is it bad to say, that I'm scared?"

"Not at all," Lea reached over and placed a comforting hand on her head. "It's going to be your first battle, and it sounds like a doozy."

"He's right, Kairi. And, we feel the same. I've never been in a battle like the one Gandalf described to us. Battling ten thousand… but I think, when the time comes, we can handle it. But, there's someone else we need to worry about." Riku stood up and came beside the other two. "He told me about the strongest warrior Sauron has. Apparently no man can kill him; he's called the Witch King of Angmar."

"Just great…"

Lea ruffled the princess's hair. "Why don't you get some sleep, Princess? You look like you need it."

"Sounds good…" She left and began to walk down to her room. Suddenly a tremor shook the entire city. Kairi dashed to a balcony and saw a bright green beacon was shining into the sky from behind the mountains of Mordor. Lighting flashed where it hit the clouds and thunder boomed menacingly from that direction. "It's beginning; Sauron will unleash his full strength on this city. Sora, please hurry!"

* * *

Kairi and the other Keybearers slept in; their new surroundings and the time difference of the world kept them awake late into the night. By the time the three of them were awake, the morning sun was already high in the sky.

"Dang, that was a good, long sleep!" The pyro grinned and stretched.

Riku shook his head. "That's one thing you and Sora have in common. Both of you could sleep your lives away."

"I need my beauty sleep!"

Kairi leaned against the balcony of their room, giggling. But, they all fell silent when they heard the calling of voices outside; the noise seemed to be of excitement. "What's going on?" From the balcony, she could see people standing on the walls, staring out towards a mountain. Atop the mountain, a fire blazed. "What's that?"

"So he did it!" Her old friend pointed at the fire. "I talked with Gandalf last night, after the two of you went to bed. He said he was going to have Pippin light the signal fire above the city and send a message to the kingdom of Rohan to come help. The steward of the city refused to do it, so it had to be secret. But now, help will come and so will Sora."

"He's in Rohan?"

"That's right…" The young master looked out and saw the joy on the face of the people of Gondor. "And now, they have hope."

* * *

Sora sat by Aragorn, on the steps of the great hall. The older man stared up at the mountains, smoking his pipe.

"You know, my parents told me smoking is bad for you."

"Oh really?" the ranger turned to Sora with a bemused smile.

Sora nodded. "Yeah, apparently it rots your lungs or something."

"You are close to your mother and father?" Aragorn asked. "Many warriors are not."

"I'm pretty close with them. Mom still like to treat me like a kid, but I don't mind; it shows she cares."

Aragorn smiled. "You seem like a good young man, and seem to be a strong warrior. I look forward to fighting beside you in battle."

The man turned his eyes up to the mountain, and stood up. Sora followed his gaze and saw what they had been waiting for. "The beacon…" Both went running up into the hall, bursting inside.

"The beacons of Minas Tirith! The beacons are lit! Gondor calls for aid!"

All eyes turned to Theoden, who seemed hesitant, but he soon looked at them, his eyes blazing with the glory and hunger for battle. "And Rohan will answer! Muster the Rohirrim!" Eomer bowed and left to do his King's bidding.

Sora watched as everyone prepared for war. This was going to be a new challenge for him; real battle against sentient creatures who were out to slaughter. He hoped he was ready…

* * *

The next day, Kairi awoke to shouting outside. Boy, these people didn't know when to keep quiet. She got up and dressed before going outside. Then, everything became clear.

Osgiliath, the last defense of the city was smoking and soldiers of Gondor were evacuating. Riku stepped up beside her. "Osgiliath fell?"

"Looks like it… Can we do anything?"

"I don't think we need to." The pyro stepped up beside Riku, pointing at a lone rider who went out to meet the incoming soldiers, who were being attacked by giant winged creatures. "I bet Gandalf can handle this."

A soldier down the wall cheered, "Its Mithrandir! The White Rider!" The wizard rode towards the soldiers and held up his staff; a bright beam of light shot out driving the riders and their beasts off. The remaining soldiers and Gandalf turned and came back towards Minas Tirith.

The three Keybearers took off towards the gate, and arrived just as Gandalf and the soldiers came in. A young man was riding alongside Gandalf, "Mithrandir!" He was tall with lanky golden-brown hair; he was dressed in a suit of chain mail under a brown breastplate emblazoned with a white tree, his pants were the same brown, and his cloak was a deep green. "They broke through our defenses. They've taken the bridge and the West bank. Battalions of Orcs are crossing the river."

"It is as the Lord Denethor predicted!" a nearby soldier exclaimed, "Long has he foreseen this doom!"

Lea growled, "Yea, foreseen and done nothing!" Though they hadn't met the steward, Gandalf told them enough about him, that they Keybearers didn't like the man.

The young soldier noticed the hobbit sitting in front of Gandalf on Shadowfax, and gave him a strange look. "Faramir?" Gandalf questioned.

"This isn't the first Hobbit you've seen, am I right?"

"No," Faramir answered quietly.

Pippin, for the first time in weeks, felt hope, "You've seen Frodo and Sam?" Faramir nodded slowly.

"Where? When?"

"In Ithilien," he replied, "Not two days ago." His face hardened, "Gandalf, they're taking the road to the Morgal vale."

Gandalf's face quickly became a mask of horror, "And then the pass of Cirith Ungol!" Again the young soldier nodded.

"What does that mean?" Kairi asked.

"What's wrong?" The hobbit and Keybladers looked at the wizard.

"Faramir, tell me everything! Tell me all you know!"

* * *

"So the Ring was right there in Osgiliath two days ago, I can't believe it."

"At least we know that it's on the way. Those two hobbits are tough if they made it on their own. Well, including that creature Faramir mentioned. Gollum, wasn't it?" Riku mumbled.

Lea nodded. "And that strange light from last night, must've been Minas Morgal…"

The trio walked along the wall tops. Soldiers lined up, staring out towards Mordor and Osgiliath. The impending battle was drawing near and everyone was on edge. Gandalf walked with the Keybearers to a part of the wall. One soldier looked over at the wizard. "Where are Theoden's riders?"

"Will Rohan's army come?"

Riku glanced over at the soldier who had asked that, "My friend rides with them, they'll come!"

Gandalf sighed, "But courage is the best defense that you have right now."

* * *

Kairi leaned against a wall. She'd been patrolling a wall for about two hours. From where she now stood, she could see some men mounting up on horses and preparing for, what looked like, battle. Another soldier watched solemnly.

The girl tapped his shoulder. "What's going on?"

"The steward ordered Captain Faramir to retake Osgiliath."

"But… that place is overrun!" the Keybearer gasped. "That's a suicide mission… doesn't the steward know that if his son or anyone tries to take it back, they'll die." The soldier didn't respond, so Kairi got off the wall and headed for the gathering men.

The wizard and two boys pushed their way through the crowd towards the group of soldiers, for they too heard about the misson Faramir was going on. "Faramir! Faramir!"

"Your father is being stupid!" exclaimed Lea, "Don't do this, its suicide!"

The steward's son sighed, "Where does my allegiance lie if not here? This is the city of the men of Númenor. I will gladly give my life to defend her beauty, her memory, and her wisdom."

They all stared after the young man sadly. Riku felt sorry for him, "Your father loves you Faramir; he'll remember that before this is over with." The three made their way to the wall tops to watch, though they knew the outcome of this battle.

* * *

Throughout the day and the next, the grotesque orcs of Mordor gathered before the city. Now they were at least ten thousand strong, with their catapults, battering ram, and battle towers. The three warriors stood watch, as their enemies gathered.

"OPEN THE GATES"

They looked over as a single horse came trumping in, dragging a body behind. The princess gasped. "Faramir…"

"Kairi, go see if he's alive!" The girl nodded and took off down the steps.

"I hope he's alright." The pyro looked down at the opposing army.

Out of nowhere, the orcs fired their catapults; the projectiles were small. Lea ducked. "Look out!" Riku held up his arm to block one from hitting his head. When the rain of objects stopped, the pyro looked down at what hit his fellow Keybearer and gasped in horror, "Riku, whatever you do, do not look at what hit you!"

The silver-haired boy looked at his arms and saw that they were covered in blood where the object hit; his curiosity got the better of him, and he looked at the projectile. His stomach rose to his throat; it was a human head.

"Riku, what is it?" Gandalf came up; he saw the blood on the boy's arms and he saw the head. "Never mind."

* * *

Kairi ran up to the top of the city, where people were just laying Faramir down as his father came out of the great hall. For being the first time Kairi saw the steward she was unimpressed. All she'd heard was that he loved his deceased son Boromir more than Faramir, and was willing to send his younger son to his death.

But now, the steward looked horrified, "Faramir! Say no that he has fallen."

"They were outnumbered!" Kairi huffed, "No one survived." Pippin went over to her as tears began to come to his eyes.

The steward, Denethor, surprisingly, was weeping over Faramir, "My sons are spent! My line has ended!"

Pippin ran over to Faramir and felt his face. His eyes lit up, "He's alive!"

"The house of Stewards has failed."

"He needs medicine my lord!"

Kairi began to move toward the body, "Or I can heal him."

"My line has ended!"

"Denethor," Kairi yelled.

He saw the girl and Hobbit by his son, "Get away!" He dragged the Princess of Heart away and flung her to the ground. "Keep her away from him!" The guards grabbed her and held her back.

"I'm trying to help, you idiot!"

The steward stumbled away, and looked over the wall at the army of orcs; his lip began to tremble, "Rohan has deserted us! Theoden's betrayed me! ABANDON YOUR POSTS! FLEE! FLEE FOR YOUR LIVES!"The soldiers, including the two Keybladers, looked up in shock. Denethor turned back, only to see Gandalf; the wizard smacked the steward in the face and stomach with his staff.

With the steward out of the way, Gandalf took control, "Prepare for battle. Hurry men! To the wall! Defend the wall! Over here! Return to your posts!" The soldiers all moved back to their positions, and awaited the battle.

Kairi went down to the boys, "There's so many, can we beat them?"

"Of course," Lea smirked, "But we better be ready."

* * *

Both sides, using their catapults and trebuchets, launched rocks and rubble at each other. Overhead came the same unearthly shriek they heard earlier. They could see the dragon-like creatures with their black-clad riders above them; they would swoop down and the dragons and grabbed soldiers and threw them off the battlements. One wraith flew right over the Keybladers, as it swooped downward Lea dragged the Princess of Heart off the wall and out of risk.

Riku pulled them up, "Nice save Lea." He could see some of the men were running. "Hold them back, don't give in! Stay at your posts! Fight!" The men of Gondor saw that three young people, including a girl were staying while they, the enlisted men of Gondor were running. This brought them back to their positions.

The Keybladers moved over by Gandalf and could see large trolls pushing the siege towers towards the walls. The men though were shooting arrows at the metal plated towers, and were doing no damage. "Not at the towers," yelled the wizard, "Aim for the trolls, kill the trolls!" As the archers changed their targets, the three Keyblade wielders shot fire spells at the large trolls.

Even with all their efforts the first tower made it to the wall. A large door fell down onto the wall top. Orcs came pouring out; Riku, Lea, and Kairi, brandishing their Keyblades, met them with a strong ferocity.

As Kairi stabbed one, she began to breath faster and faster; never in her life had she killed someone before.

"Kairi! Focus!" Lea grabbed her arm, "You can do this!"

She nodded and continued to fight; the two boys stayed by her side the entire time. It was very evident in their minds that this was the Princess's first battle, and this battle would make the most experienced warrior scared.

"Kairi," Gandalf came beside her, "Go and protect the women and children while they get away!"

"Got it!" She ran back towards the city.

Riku cut down a wave of orcs and then looked over the battlements. "Lea look!" The guys looked down and saw something like a large oxen slash rhino creature, pulling a large contraption; on it hung a giant metal wolf with fire in its mouth.

"Um Riku, I think we're screwed."

* * *

 **Looks like I'm doing 3 chapters for this story… *sigh***

 **I wanted to get it in 2 chapters, but LOTR is so big I have to split it up more.**

 **Please Review!**

* * *

 **Proverbs 3:5-6**

 ** _"Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight._**


	4. Lord of the Keyblade- part 3

**HAPPY NEW YEAR!**

 **Last part! I hope you guys enjoy it.**

 **Kingdom Hearts © to Disney and Square Enix!**

 **LOTR © to J.R.R. Tolkin**

 **Lord of the Keyblade part 3**

* * *

Midnight came and went, and the battle for Gondor raged on.

Kairi stood up on the battlements lighting the catapult projectiles on fire. She just finished lighting one when a battalion of Orcs came charging up the ramparts towards them. Kairi turned and the lead orc swung a large battle ax at her; she barely had enough time to jump back. The tip of the ax, clipped the middle of her forehead, forming a large cut which bled profusely, blinding her.

She swung her Keyblade wildly, managing to kill the orc. Kairi stumbled against a wall, wiping the blood from her face. "Kairi!" She felt someone pull her away from the battle, but the girl could still barely see. Somewhere a door closed. "My gosh…" The girl blinked as someone cast Cure on her and wiped the blood from her face.

Once she could see, a familiar face with green eyes and red hair. "Lea?"

"That was a bad hit." He continued to clean off her face. "Why don't you stay up here? The orcs are focusing their attack on the gate. Be careful, Kairi." He smiled and ran out the door, back into the battle. Kairi followed minutes later, and from her position, she could see the giant wolf that the orcs pushed up to the gate.

The large trolls were pulling on ropes that held the wolf, the orcs called it Grond; they pulled Grond back and then released it. It crashed into the city gates causing them to shudder.

Gandalf led the soldiers, along with Riku, to the gate. The gates shook with every blow from the metal wolf, which the orcs bashed against the gate. The silver-haired Keybearer looked over as Lea approached. "How's Kairi?"

"Took a blow to the head, but she's alright. I told her to stay up with the catapults."

"Good."

The wizard riding by on his horse, caught their gaze. "Steady! Steady!" Finally the gates gave way, Grond crashed through the center, the head and fire-filled mouth showed through the hole. It left the hole as the orcs pulled it back for one more ram.

"You are soldiers of Gondor," Gandalf cried out, "No matter what comes through that gate you will stand your ground." The gates burst open and in charged a group of cave trolls in armor, wielding large maces.

"Volley!" Gandalf ordered the archers, "Fire!" The arrows did nothing to impede the trolls. And as the monsters charged, the soldiers lowered their spears.

Riku turned to his friend, "Lea, give me a lift!" The pyro turned his chakram on its side; Riku jumped on, and Lea launched him into the air. He landed on the back of a troll and drove his blade into the back of its neck. The troll reached back, grabbed the young master by his foot, and slammed him into the ground. Riku felt the air go out of him, his vision blurred; just as it came back, he barely rolled out of the way before a troll brought it's mace down on where he'd been.

Lea tried to run to help, but another troll, swung his mace, catching the pyro across the chest, and sending him flying into a building. Lea'd been able to block the spikes from puncturing him, but the blow still winded him. And the wall he'd slammed into broke off, and the sharp edges drove into his back.

The Gondorian soldiers helped the two young men up, moving them to the back. Both took a moment to heal themselves, but their pride and resolved was shattered. Kairi came down from the battlements. "Guys!?"

"Hey…" Riku laid back against a wall. "You ok…?"

"Fine," she looked over as the soldiers battled on.

"Something wrong?"

The princess bit her lip. "We can't help… nothing we can do, is going to affect the outcome of this battle. We can use magic, but that's nothing against these numbers."

Riku put his hand on her right shoulder and Lea put his hand on her left shoulder. "We'll be alright." A roar brought them around and they saw the enemy forces pouring out of the gate; they brought themselves to their feet, ready to continue their fight.

* * *

Dawn came slowly as fireballs rained down, and Mordor's forces spilled over, into the city.

"Retreat!" Gandalf ordered, "The city is breached. Fall back to the second level. Get the women and children out! Get them out! Retreat!" The Keybearers did their best to pull people away from the battle.

"Fight! Fight to the last man. Fight for your lives!"

The fight drew on, and on. As the sun came up, a horn sounded. The army of Rohan arrived, but they could not think on that long, for Kairi, Lea, and Riku battled alongside the soldiers of Gondor as the orcs continued their approach.

They pulled back, further and further into the city, until they found themselves trapped in a small area, behind a gate. The soldiers barred the oaken door, and stood nearby, weapons at the ready. The gate shuddered as trolls beat against it. Pippin, Gandalf, Lea, Riku, and Kairi sat together on the side.

The Hobbit looked up, fear evident in his face, "I didn't think it would end this way."

"End?" Gandalf looked at him, and his gaze travelled across to the Keyblade wielders as well, "No, the journey doesn't end here. Death is just another path, one that we all must take." Riku and the others turned their gaze on the wizard. "The grey rain curtain of this world rolls back and all turns to silvered glass. And then you see it."

Lea leaned in closer, "What?"

"Gandalf?"

"See what?"

The old man smiled slightly at them, "White shores and beyond, a far green country under a swift sunrise."

"That doesn't sound too bad."

Lea leaned back against a wall, "Not bad at all."

"No, no it isn't." The door cracked gave a creak and cracked slightly under the assault.

Riku stood up, helping Kairi to her feet. He could see the fear in her eyes, as death seemed to loom over them. He moved to speak, but Lea spoke first, "Kairi, Riku… see you on the white shores."

The other Keyblade wielders smiled slightly. "You bet."

* * *

Sora lay on the deck of a ship. They were on their way to Gondor, by way of some ships commandeered from some of Sauron's men.

Days before, he, Aragorn, Legolas, and Gimli split up from the rest of the force of Rohan. They were to get a formidable force to join them in the attack against the orcs. This force just so happened to be an army of ghosts.

Sora shuddered at the memory of that walk through the paths of the dead, especially of the part where he walked over a bunch of human skulls. The sound of them crushing under his feet would probably be one of many things to haunt his dreams. But at least those ghosts were on their side.

As they approached the city, Aragorn and the others ducked behind the edge of the ship. They pulled alongside the dock, where orcs waited. One Orc with a skull on the spike of his helmet came forward. "Late as usual, pirate scum. There's knife-work here need doing. Come on you sea rats, get off your ships."

Aragorn, Sora, Gimli, and Legolas jumped off the ship, surprising the Orcs. They walked closer, brandishing their weapons. Gimli grinned as he brandished the large battle ax, "There's plenty for the both of us…"

Sora grinned, "Mind cutting me a piece of that action?"

"Not in the least Sora, may the best Dwarf win!" They ran at the Orcs with the army of the dead materializing behind them. The ghosts trampled down the Orcs and killed them all.

Sora swung left and right with his blade, cutting down the enemies. He'd never been in a fight this big, including the one in Radiant Garden. Even that time, he was against mindless Heartless, but now he fought people who could think on their own.

The boy sliced off an Orc's arm and turned to face another when an arrow stuck into his right side. Sora gripped his side and groaned. He held up his sword to cast Cure when another arrow shot into his stomach and then right under that one, another pierced his upper left leg. The boy fell to his knees and tried once more to cast the healing spell; as he did a fourth arrow came towards him and drove into the center of his chest. With a cough Sora fell backwards and the world around him began to fade.

* * *

Just as the armies of Mordor were about to break the door between them and the soldiers of Gondor, when suddenly an army of ghosts came through, destroying the orcs.

The battle was over.

Gandalf, Pippin, and the Keyblade wielders walked outside the gates onto the battlefield; they saw the army of ghosts standing before a man, dwarf, and elf.

"Release us!"

Gimli looked from the King of the Dead to Aragorn, "Bad idea! Very handy in a tight spot theses lads, despite the fact they're dead."

"You gave us your word," the King growled.

"I hold your oath fulfilled," Aragorn smiled slightly, "Go… be at peace." The King of the Dead smiled as a great wind came and the army disappeared.

Gimli sighed and turned around; he noticed the Keybladers, especially Kairi. "You must be Kairi, am I right?"

"Yes," she'd never met these people before. How did they know her? "How did you know who I was?"

"Sora told us about you."

The Princess smiled at the mention of Sora. The elf walked up to her and the other two Keyblade wielders, "You two must be Riku and Lea. I am Legolas, this is Aragorn son of Arathorn, and Gimli son of Gloin."

"Where is Sora?"

Aragorn replied, "He has been traveling with us, and is probably helping search for any survivors."

"Let's go help," Kairi smiled.

The dead littered the ground, like grains of sand on a beach. Pippin walked beside Riku and saw Merry's Elven cloak lying on the ground. "Merry!" Riku did not know who this 'Merry' was, but he felt sorry for Pippin.

Kairi looked around, but didn't see Sora anywhere. That put her on edge. As she walked around a fallen beast, she saw a figure in bright clothing, lying on the ground. "It can't be…" She ran over and fell to her knees, her breath catching in her throat. It was Sora "NOOO! NOOOO!"

Aragorn, Gimli, and Legolas were closer and got to them first. The ranger dropped to his knees, the dwarf hung his head, and the elf whispered a prayer in Elvish. Riku and Lea came running over at the princess's cry. But their steps faltered at the sight of Sora, "SORA!"

"CURE!" The Princess cradled her dear friend's head in her lap, "CURE…CURE… OH PLEASE CURE!" The spell healed his exterior wounds, pushing the arrows out of his body, but Sora didn't stir.

"This… this can't be happening," Riku knelt beside Sora, picking up one of the arrows. "Sora… you can't die… you just can't." Lea sat there in silence, tears welling up in his eyes.

"Sora, wake up. Please wake up. I can't live without you." Tears stained her face. She laid her head against Sora's and sobbed. Then she heard a faint noise. "Quiet! Everyone be quiet!" Kairi listened and her eyes lit up. "He's breathing! He's still alive!"

Aragorn stood to his feet, picking Sora up, before taking him all the way back to the city, with the others following.

"Sora, please be ok, Sora…"

* * *

For two days Sora lay in the house of healing, no signs of life except for his quiet breathing and faint heartbeat. Kairi sat beside him, watching over him constantly; she hadn't slept or ate in three days. Every day, Aragorn and the other friends Sora made came by, to see if he'd made any progress.

Riku came over and sat beside Kairi, with Lea standing behind them. The pyro sighed. "Guys, I hate to say this but, he hasn't moved for two days, there is a chance that he may never wake up." The two islanders looked down at their friend sadly. "I'm sorry."

"Sora…" Kairi bent over and laid her head on his chest, "Please, wake up."

The boy moaned and stirred slightly; his blue eyes fluttered open and he saw Kairi crying over him. "Kairi, it's alright."

"Sora!"

He gave his trademark grin and winced with pain. "Ok, not smart to move." The three standing over him smiled. "What happened to me?"

"You got shot three times." Lea sat down.

"Aragorn says it a miracle you survived."

The Princess of Heart smiled down at her friend, touching his cheek sweetly. "I'm glad you're alright."

"What are you doing here anyways? When I went home, my parents said you left with Riku. You've been training right?"

His friends nodded. "Kairi has been training with us, to use her Keyblade. We were sent here by Master Yen Sid to help here. Gandalf asked him to send us, after you showed up."

"I see. So what now?" Sora tried to move again, but the pain caused him to lay back down.

Riku sighed. "We wait for you to recover, and then we leave."

"But why? Sauron is still alive."

Lea sighed. "We know, but it will take them a few weeks, to a month to regroup and then march all the way to Mordor's gates. Gandalf told us to leave and let them handle it. He says it may not have seemed like much, but just us being here influenced people. We apparently brought the troops hope and now they are prepared to fight. We'd like to stay, but we don't have the time. We have to go train…"

"I understand… how long should it take for me to heal?"

"With magic," his best friend spoke up, "it'll take a day or two."

"Indeed," Gandalf approached. The wizard bore a smile as he laid his hand on the bed. "You have all helped us in many ways. You brought hope and courage to people here. Four young people who have nothing to do with us, were willing to fight and die for our war. This gave them the courage to stand up, just as you all did. I know you have your own war to fight."

"Are you sure?"

Aragorn came walking over to the bed. "We are certain. We will do what we can to help you in any way."

"Thank you Aragorn."

* * *

Sora stood up on a balcony, holding a star shard. He'd finally healed up and was ready to go. The only one around was the voice in his head. _"Are you really going to leave without saying anything?"_

"I'm not ready to go back just yet…" The boy held up the shard, and prepared to activate it.

"Did you really think I'd let you leave?" He turned and saw Kairi, standing behind him. She came up, grabbing his hand. "Slipping away in the middle of the night, isn't like you."

Sora smiled at her. "I'm sorry, I just… I can't go back just yet. I still need some time to train on my own."

"But Sora, without someone around, you'll have trouble keeping your spirits up. I know you…"

He sighed. "My parents said the same thing."

"Then listen to them. Let me come with you."

"No…" He looked her in the eyes. "But you have your own training. And anyways, I'm never alone."

She gave him a deadpan look. "Don't give me that. You can't talk to Roxas and you have no one else…"

"Don't worry about me… I still carry your good luck charm, and it's like taking you with me. But… there's one other thing, another way I can bring you with me, and you can still continue your training." He sighed, pulling Kairi into a hug.

"Anything. You almost died. If I'd lost you then… I don't know what I'd do."

"I know," he put an arm around her and held up the star shard. "I'll have you back quickly."

"Wait, wha…?!" A light flashed and the two shot off into the sky.

When they came crashing down in a ball of light. Kairi blinked and found herself and Sora standing on the play island of their homeworld. "What are we doing here…?"

"I'll show you, but I'd like you to go into the secret place and then I'll show you why I brought you here." He gave her a quick hug before running off. Kairi cocked her head in confusion, but went into the secret place. She immediately went over to the drawing at the back of the cave. The drawing that she and Sora did as kids. She placed her hand on the Paopu fruit drawing. "Remember when we drew that?"

She turned around and saw Sora, holding something behind his back. "Of course, I remember…" She stood up and walked over to him. "So, what's this about? Are you going to let me come with you?"

"This way I'll always be with you, and you with me." He pulled his hands from behind his back, and Kairi could see the yellow star-shaped fruit in his hands.

"A Paopu…!?" She blushed.

"Would you want to… share it?"

The girl nodded. "I would love to…" They both took hold of the fruit and held it between them…

* * *

Sora floated though interspace, smiling. The voice in his head chuckled. _"So, sharing the fruit with Kairi… was that fun?"_

"Yeah… Now, I've got her with me, always…" He placed a hand on his heart, feeling the connection, knowing that she was safe. He smiled once more before he shot off through the darkness of interspace.

In the same way, Riku, Lea, and Kairi took their star shard back to the Mysterious Tower. Kairi looked out into space, smiling as she felt Sora and knew that she was going to see him again.

* * *

 **Yes, I cut out the last battle. One, because I wanted to move on from this world. And Two, because the gang would play and even smaller role in that than in the battle of Pellenor Fields.**

 **So end the lotr arc. Onto the next.**

 **Please review.**

* * *

 **2 Corinthians 5:17**

 ** _"This means that anyone who belongs to Christ has become a new person. The old life is gone; a new life has begun!"_**


	5. A Sacrifice and a Savior

**Alright, here's the next chapter.**

 **We're in Narnia! And, I got the whole part in one chapter!**

 **Enjoy!**

 **Kingdom Hearts © to Disney and Square Enix!**

 **Narnia © to C.S. Lewis!**

* * *

 **A Sacrifice and a Savior**

* * *

Kairi yawned as she came inside the tower. After the stress on Middle Earth, she decided to go home for a bit, in order to relax. As she opened the door to Master Yen Sid's study, the wizard looked up at her. "Ah Kairi, you have returned."

"Yes sir. Sorry, but I needed a break."

"I understand. The last world was quite taxing for all of you." The wizard smiled. "But, now that you have returned, I have another job for all of you. I have already told Lea and Riku about the mission. A world has been encased in snow and ice for many years, and also cut off from all other worlds, has finally opened up I have known many people there. I am sending the three of you to assist and placing the rightful rulers on their thrones. The three of you will leave in the morning."

"Yes, Master Yen Sid." The princess bowed slightly and left.

* * *

The next day, in a cold, snowy wood, the three Keybearers appeared. Riku shivered slightly. "Wish we'd packed some warmer clothes."

"Well, the old man _did_ say this place was bound in ice and snow."

Kairi looked around; the deafening silence filled the forest. They all jumped as a twig snapped behind them. The three turned as five figures came into view, three humans and two animals: a teenage boy, a teenage girl, a younger girl, and two beavers.

"Oh my!" cried one of the beavers.

Lea's eyes grew wide, "That beaver just talked! Am I the only one who heard that?"

"That surprises you?" Kairi smacked the pyro upside the head. "Sora travels with Donald and Goofy, who are a dog and a duck. And the king is a mouse."

"Ok, you have a point…"

The group with the beavers stood there, staring. The older boy drew a sword, holding up his shield. "Who are you and what do you want?"

"Calm down, we're friends. Our master sent us here to help put the rightful rulers of this land on the throne," Riku calmly explained.

"Oh and who might your Master be… The White Witch I should think!"

Kairi shook her head, "No, our master is the great wizard, Yen Sid. He told us to come here and help put the kings and queens of this world on their thrones."

The boy lowered his sword, "I don't know why, but I trust you. My name is Peter; these are my two sisters, Susan and Lucy."

"My name is Riku, and this is Lea and Kairi."

"Got it memorized?"

This made Lucy giggle, but the male beaver tapped his tail on the ground, impatiently. "It's nice to meet you but we must get moving if we want to get to Aslan's camp."

"Aslan?"

"Yes," the female beaver exclaimed, "He's the King of the wood, the Son of the Great Emperor- beyond- the Sea, and the Great Lion!"

Lea's eyes grew wide, "We're gonna meet a lion. For some reason… I'm ok with that." This made the entire group smile as they walked along the river gorge.

During this walk, Mr. Beaver explained everything to the three Keybearers. Riku looked at Peter, who was about his age, if not younger. "So, you are to be king."

"It seems so." The boy seemed focused on the ground before his feet.

"Nervous?"

Peter nodded. "I'm only a kid. I'm not prepared to be a king."

"And I'm a master. I'm not much older than you." If I can learn to handle it, so can you. Peter smiled and nodded.

As they went along, the scenery began to change; the snow melted around them and the plants turned green. It was changing from winter to spring in just a few hours. It was the most beautiful sight of all time.

"Look!" They stopped to watch some bluebells bloom right before their very eyes. "It's so beautiful."

"We better get out of this gorge, with the snow melting this fast the river will reach us in about an hour or so."

"Riku's right," Mr. Beaver nodded, "Let's get higher up. Actually, we needed to go a little to the right to get to the stone table." They climbed up the bank and headed south. The sun began to sink low as they reached a large hill and began the long climb upwards.

It took them a good while to reach the top, but when they reached the top. The flat hill, spread out before them, and they could see the forest stretching in almost every direction. Where there was no forest to be seen, the flat ocean could be seen stretching out to the eastern horizon. The hilltop was mostly open except for a large slab of stone covered in strange writing, held up by four smaller stones. And on the far side of the hill stood a pavilion made of yellow silks with a banner fluttering above.

To their right came the sounds of music and laughter. They looked and saw a strange crowd: animals of all kinds, but the ones who should have been small were big, and the ones who were supposed to be big were smaller. There were fawns, satyrs, a unicorn, centaurs, Dryads, and Naiads. In the center stood the largest and most majestic lion any of them had ever seen.

"Aslan!" The lion was the most beautiful and terrible thing they had ever seen; his great eyes looked at them with kindness. The entire group trembled at the sight of him; they loved him and feared him at the same time.

"Go on," Mr. Beaver whispered to Peter.

The boy shook his head slightly, "No, you first."

"No, Sons of Adam before animals."

"Susan," Peter looked to his sister, "What about you? Ladies first."

The older girl looked at her brother, "No, you're the oldest."

"Lea?"

The red head backed away, "You're the future King."

Finally, Peter gathered his wits about him; he drew his sword and held it at a salute. "Come on. Pull yourselves together." Slowly they approached Aslan. "We have come, Aslan,"

The voice, with which the lion spoke, was kingly and powerful, "Welcome, Peter, Son of Adam. Welcome, Susan and Lucy, Daughters of Eve. Welcome, Riku Lea and Kairi, warriors of the Keyblade. Welcome, He-beaver and She-beaver." As he spoke, all terror vanished from the gang; all now felt happy and quiet as they stood there silently. "But where is the fourth?"

The trio remembered Edmund, the fourth sibling, that Peter mentioned. "He has tried to betray them and joined the White Witch."

"That was partly my fault," cut in Peter, "I was angry with him and I think that I helped him to go wrong." The Great Lion stared silently at them, and it seemed that he didn't excuse or blame Peter.

Lucy's eyes filled with tears, "Please… Aslan, can anything be done for Edmund?"

"All shall be done, but it may be harder than you think." Riku looked at his face and saw his peaceful expression turn to one of sadness and understanding. That soon faded and Aslan clapped his paws together. "Meanwhile, let the feast be prepared. Ladies, take these Daughters of Eve to the pavilion and minister to them." The Naiads and Dryads came around Peter's sisters and hurried them off to the pavilion and, at Aslan's word, they whisked Kairi off with them.

Aslan put a large paw on the future King's shoulder, "Come, Son of Adam, and I will show you a far-off sight of the castle where you are to be King." Peter and Aslan walked towards the sea.

Riku sat down. "Well, this is going to be interesting."

"Yeah," Lea plopped down beside him. "This White Witch sounds powerful."

"I agree, but I get the feeling that Aslan is even more powerful."

The pyro nodded. The sill air suddenly rang with the sound of a horn. The boys cocked their heads in confusion, even more so, when Peter ran past them, sword in hand. They stood up and followed.

The wood-women and water-women ran everywhere. Kairi lay on the ground, a wolf on top of her; she struggled to get it off. Just as they reached her, she killed the wolf.

Lucy ran to her brother as fast as she could. They saw Susan climbing a tree with a large grey animal following. As it reached the tree he could see it was another wolf standing on its hind legs, at the tree's base. The girl couldn't get very high in the tree so her legs hung down, only a few inches from the wolf's snapping jaws.

Susan seemed ready to faint, and if she did she would fall and be at the animal's mercy. Riku and Lea moved to help Peter as he charged the wolf. But, a paw stayed them; Aslan shook his shaggy head. This battle was Peter's.

Peter held out his sword; the wolf moved its attention from Susan to him, but the boy continued to hold his ground. His first slash missed the wolf, but it got its attention. The wolf howled in fury then leaped for the Son of Adam's throat; the young man ducked and, without even realizing what he was really doing, drove his sword into its heart. It gave a short cry and fell over. The young King stepped back and looked at the dead wolf, slain by his own hand. His sister came down from the tree and embraced; both tired but happy to be alive.

"Quick! Quick!" Aslan ordered, "Centaurs! Eagles! I see another wolf in the thicket. There… behind you. He has just darted away. After him, all of you. He will be going to his mistress. Now is your chance to find the Witch and rescue the fourth Son of Adam." Riku and Lea ran after them. Two horses stopped and allowed them on.

Kairi came over to Lucy; they watched as the Great Lion approached Peter and Susan. "Peter, you have forgotten to clean your sword."

The blade, that had been shiny before was stained with blood and grey fur; the The boy wiped his sword on the grass and then on his coat. "Kneel Son of Adam." He put a large paw on his shoulders and said, "Rise up, Sir Peter Wolf's-Bane. And, whatever happens, never forget to wipe your sword." They all smiled.

Kairi looked around. She hoped that the boys would reach Edmund in time.

* * *

The boys rode along beside the others through the woods; a bloodhound led the way after the wolf. They came out into a small clearing where three figures stood. A woman, who had to be the white witch, a dwarf, and a boy tied to a tree. The group all poured into the clearing.

Riku jumped off the horse and walked over to the boy; with one strike he cut his bonds. Edmund fell forward, consciousness drifting away.

"Who's got the Witch?" yelled Lea and numerous answers came in.

"I thought you had her!"

"I didn't see her after I knocked the knife out of her hand."

"I was after the dwarf."

The pyro sighed, "Do you mean she escaped?"

"A chap can't mind everything at once," exclaimed an eagle.

"What's that," A centaur stumbled over something, "Oh, sorry, it's only an old stump."

Riku picked Edmund up. "Lea, I'm gonna hand him up to you." The pyro reached down and lifted the boy onto the horse. The group slowly rode back to the hill of the Stone Table; by the time they got back it was well past midnight.

* * *

Kairi awoke on a pile of cushions and spotted Lea and Riku on sleeping not far away. She could not see Peter or his sisters, and assumed they were already awake. She went out and saw the siblings sitting around with breakfast, the beavers sat with them. Lucy looked up at the princess and grinned, "Mr. Beaver said that they brought Edmund back in last night."

"Morning guys," Riku came out of the pavilion dragging a half-asleep Lea. "I had to drag this slacker out of bed… again. I'm glad we could get your brother back safe and sound; looks like he and Aslan are having a talk." Over to the side was the lion talking to Edmund.

After a while, the boy and lion came towards them. "Here is your brother, and there is no need to talk to him about what is past." The Great Lion turned to let them talk. Lea, Riku, and Kairi stepped away to allow the siblings some time.

Suddenly a leopard went over to Aslan, "Sire, there is a messenger from the enemy who craves audience."

"Let him approach." The leopard left and returned soon with a black dwarf, the same one Riku and Lea saw the night before. "What is your message, Son of Earth?" Aslan growled.

The dwarf responded shakily, "The Queen of Narnia and Empress of the Lone Islands desires a safe conduct to come and speak with you on a matter which is as much to your advantage as to hers."

"Queen of Narnia indeed," Lea muttered, still kind of grumpy from being so rudely awakened after a long night, "Of all the cheek…"

Aslan growled at him, "Peace, Lea! All names will soon be restored to their proper owners. In the meantime, we will not dispute about them." He looked back to the dwarf, "Tell your mistress, Son of Earth, that I grant her safe conduct on condition that she leaves her wand behind her at that great oak." Two leopards conducted the dwarf back to the Witch.

"Riku, supposing she turns the two leopards into stone?"

He put a hand on Lucy's shoulder, "It'll be fine, Aslan wouldn't send them if it wasn't." Soon they came back with the witch, in the light they could see her and when they did chills went down everyone's backs.

While she did not look that threatening, all covered in white fur. When she entered the area it grew cold, even though the sun was out. Riku and the others could feel her strength and power

Soon she stood right before Aslan, but she never looked him eye to eye. "You have a traitor there, Aslan." Edmund didn't seem to care what she said now.

"Well, his offense was not against you."

"Have you forgotten the Deep Magic?"

The lion's voice grew dangerously calm, "Let us say I have forgotten it. Tell us of this Deep Magic."

"Tell you?" her voice went up an octave, "Tell you what is written on that very Table of Stone which stands beside us? Tell you what is written in letters deep as a spear is long on the fire-stones on the Secret Hill? Tell you what is engraved on the scepter of the Emperor-beyond-the-Sea? You at least know the Magic which the Emperor put into Narnia at the very beginning. You know that every traitor belongs to me as my lawful prey and that for every treachery I have a right to a kill."

The faces of everyone became masks of horror. Mr. Beaver growled, "Oh, so that's how you came to imagine yourself a queen… because you were the Emperor's hangman. I see."

"Peace, Beaver," growled Aslan.

"And so," the Witch went on, "That human creature is mine. His life is forfeit to me. His blood is my property."

Kairi grit her teeth, summoning her Keyblade, "Come and take him then!"

"Fool!" The witch grinned savagely at her, "Do you really think your master can rob me of my rights by mere force? He knows the Deep Magic better than that. He knows that unless I have blood as the Law says, all Narnia will be overturned and perish in fire and water."

The lion's face grew solemn, "It is very true. I do not deny it."

"Oh Aslan! Can't we…I mean, you won't, will you? Can't we do something about the Deep Magic? Isn't there something we can do to work against it?" Susan took her younger brother's hand.

Aslan turned to her, eyes filled with sadness, "Work against the Emperor's Magic?" No one else dared mention anything like that again.

Riku looked over at Edmund; the boy now looked like he was going to be sick. Aslan seemed to see this too. His gaze fell upon everyone. "Fall back, all of you. I will talk to the witch alone." Everyone moved away as the White Witch and the Great Lion talked in low voices.

As they talked, the onlookers held a total silence. Riku leaned against a tree and watched their backs as they conversed. Lea summoned his chakram and tossed it into the air and then caught it again, over and over. Kairi sat with Lucy and Susan and tried to be a comfort to the two girls. After some time passed, Aslan's voice broke the silence. "You can all come back!" With anxious glances they gathered around him again. "I have settled the matter. She has renounced the claim on your brother's blood."

The group cheered and the family hugged with joy. Behind them they heard the Witch ask, "But how do I know this promise will be kept?" Aslan stood up tall and roared loudly; this sent the witch streaking away in terror.

Amid the laughter and celebration, the lion spoke to Peter, "We must move from this place at once, it will be wanted for other purposes. We shall encamp tonight at the Fords of Beruna."

No one dared ask him about the arrangement he made with the Witch. After they ate they packed up swiftly and moved out. During the move Aslan explained his battle plan to Peter and the two Keyblader boys.

"But you will be there yourself, Aslan."

The lion looked over at Peter solemnly, "I can give you no promise of that." This confused the boys but they kept their mouths shut. Everyone noticed Aslan's strange behavior; he seemed sad and was very quiet. Once the company reached the Fords of Beruna, Aslan told them to stop on that side of the water.

"Wouldn't it be better to camp on the far side… for fear she should try a night attack or anything?" Peter asked.

"Eh? What's that?"

"He wondered," Lea told him, "If it would be a good idea to set up on the other side instead. You know, just in case the Witch tried a night attack."

"No," he answered in a hollow voice, "She will not make an attack tonight. All the same it was well thought of. That is how a soldier ought to think. But it doesn't really matter." They pitched camp and ate supper. Aslan's mood affected everyone; supper was short and no one really talked for the rest of the night.

Riku went over to Peter during the meal. "Hey, you ok?"

"I guess… what will I do if Aslan isn't in the battle tomorrow?"

"I guess that's the only question that matters right now," the Keyblade Master sighed, "Don't worry, Lea and I will be there. We are experienced in battle, and if you need us we will be there."

"Thank you Riku."

* * *

Kairi lay awake in the pavilion, the day's events rolling through her mind. "I wonder… what was Aslan's deal with the Witch?" She heard Lucy sigh.

"Can't you get to sleep either?" Susan's voice came through the darkness.

"No."

"I though you two future Queens would be sleeping very well."

Lucy smiled, "I guess not… I though you two were asleep. I say, Susan, Kairi!"

"What?"

The little girl sat up, "I've a most horrible feeling, as if something were hanging over us."

"I do too," the Princess of Heart sat up as well, "It's been on my mind all night long."

"I do as well."

"Something about Aslan," Lucy gasped, "Either some dreadful thing is going to happen to him, or something dreadful that he's going to do."

Kairi went over to the two Queens. "Something's been wrong with him since he met with the Witch. And you heard what he said to Peter, Lea, and Riku; you know, about him not being in the battle. Do you think he could be leaving tonight?"

"Where is he now? Asked Lucy, "Is he here in the pavilion?"

Susan looked around, "I don't think so."

"Susan! Kairi! Let's go outside and have a look round. We might see him." The three girls got up and went outside; the brightness of the moon filled the air, looking like daytime and all was still except for the river.

"Look!" On the other side of the pavilion they could see the lion just heading into the tree-line. The girls nodded to each other and took off after him. As they followed Kairi noticed that he was leading them down the same path they took to the Fords of Beruna earlier that day, but this time they were going towards the Stone Table.

They followed the somber figure silently until they came into an open area. He stopped and looked around. The girls couldn't run away now, so they came closer. "Oh, children, children. Why are you following me?"

Lucy spoke first, "We couldn't sleep." Aslan looked at them and they knew they needn't say anything else.

"Aslan, please, may we come with you… wherever you're going?" Kairi asked quietly.

"Well," Aslan thought aloud, "I should be glad of company tonight. Yes, you may come, if you promise to stop when I tell you, and after that leave me to go on alone."

"Thank you, Aslan!" They went forward slowly and the lion hardly looked the intimidating figure they saw when they first met him. His head nearly touched the ground and suddenly he stumbled.

The Princess of Heart came beside him, worried, "Aslan! Are you ok?"

"What's wrong? Can't you tell us?"

"Are you ill, dear Aslan?"

"No," the Great Lion replied, "I am sad and lonely. Lay your hands on my mane so that I can feel you are there and let us walk like that." The three young ladies did what they would have never dared do without his permission… they put their hands on his mane and stroked it gently as they walked.

Soon they were walking up the hill of the Stone Table; the side they were on had more trees and the last tree was surrounded by bushes. Aslan and the girls stopped, "Oh, children, children. Here you must stop. And whatever happens, do not let yourselves be seen. Farewell."

As he left the three cried silently, though they didn't really know why. He went up to the Stone Table and the girls crouched down behind the bushes to watch. Atop the hill, around the Stone Table, stood a crowd of creatures. Torches surrounded them, casting an eerie red light; making the crowd look more evil and scary by the second. Kairi recognized many from horror movies and stories the boys had either shown or told her. There were Ogres, wolves, black dwarves, minotaurs, dark dryads, cruels, hags, incubuses, wraiths, horrors, efreets, sprites, orknies, wooses, ettins, and other sinister creatures.

The White Witch herself stood on the stone table. "The fool! The fool has come. Bind him fast!" At her biding, four hags came up slowly and bound the Great Lion tightly. As they began, all the other monsters joined in. "Stop!" The Witch smiled cruelly, "Let him first be shaved."

The creatures laughed and began to cut away his mane. When they were done the lion looked smaller and very different. The enemies notice this too, and began to ridicule him.

"Why, he's only a great cat after all!"

"Is that what we're afraid of?"

"Kitty, kitty! Poor kitty!"

"How many mice have you caught today, cat?"

"Would you like a saucer of milk, kitty?"

"Oh how can they," Lucy cried quietly, "The brutes, the brutes!" Even then, the kind face of Aslan looked into the eyes of the girls.

"Muzzle him!" As they tied his mouth shut he didn't even fight back. They all kicked and beat the beautiful lion.

Finally, the Witch's crew dragged Aslan onto the table. Once there, a hush fell over everyone. The White Witch picked up a cruel-looking stone knife and stood over the Great Lion.

She knelt over him and Kairi heard her speaking to him; in a quiet voice and the Princess just barely make out what she said. "And now, who has won? Fool, did you think that by all this you would save the human traitor? Now I will kill you instead of him as our pact was, and so the Deep Magic will be appeased. But when you are dead what will prevent me from killing him as well? And who will take him out of my hand then? Understand that you have given me Narnia forever, you have lost your own life and you have not saved his. In that knowledge, despair, and die!"

Lucy and Susan turned away, but Kairi watched as the Witch drove the knife into Aslan's flesh.

* * *

The three silently wept in the bushes; the young Queens covering their faces in horror. The White Witch, smiling viciously, called to her troops, "Now! Follow me all and we will set about what remains of this war!" It will not take us long to crush the human vermin and the traitors now that the great Fool, the great Cat, lies dead."

As the hoard began to move out, Kairi and the girls ducked under some bushes as the enemy passed right by them. Some came so close that they could feel the wind rushing past them.

Once the monsters left, the three girls ran to Aslan's side. What would they do now? The wood became silent once again and the girls finally dared to crawl out into the open.

"Oh Aslan," Kairi sighed as they reached the Stone Table. They sat and stroked the lion's beautiful face, now muzzled and bloody. They cried and cried, until all their tears were spent.

Lucy wiped her face, "I can't bear to look at that horrible muzzle. I wonder could we take it off?" The girls attempted to pull the muzzle off, but their enemies tied the cords too tight. "Kairi, can you cut it off with your Keyblade?"

"I don't want to accidently cut him with it."

"Yes," Susan agreed, "We'll think of something else. I wonder could we untie him as well?"

The Princess of Heart shook her head as more tears ran down her face. "I tried already; they've tied him too tight." They could do nothing more, but cry. Nothing else seemed to matter at all; Kairi's mind was not on Xehanort, Lea, Riku, or even Sora but only on Aslan. Her head lay on the Great Lion's when suddenly she noticed a bunch of little grey creatures crawling all over him. "What in the world? Mice!"

"Ugh!" Susan cringed, "How beastly! Go away, you little beasts." She waved her hand to frighten them.

Lucy stayed her, "Wait! Can you see what they're doing?"

"I do believe…"

"That's weird. They're eating away at the ropes!"

Lucy smiled, "That's what I thought. I think they're friendly mice. Poor little things… they don't realize he's dead. They think it'll do some good untying him." The night passed and, by now, there was enough light for them to see by. Once the mice finished their task, they left and the girls cleared away the ropes.

"That's better," the Princess said, "He looks a bit more like himself now."

The dawn came upon them but it didn't feel like the last few days. "I'm so cold."

"So am I," Susan agreed with her sister, "Let's walk about a bit." The three got up and walked back and forth across the hill trying to keep warm.

On one of these trips, when their backs were to the Stone Table and their faces to the sea, a loud crack sounded behind them. "What's that?"

"I…I feel afraid to turn 'round. Something awful is happening"

Kairi closed her eyes, "They're doing something worse to him! We've got to help!" They dashed back to the Table and stopped in terror. They could see the Stone Table, split directly down the middle, and they could see nothing of Aslan. "NO!"

"They might have left the body alone," cried Lucy fearfully.

"Who's done it? What does it mean? Is it magic?"

"Yes! It is more magic." The girls turned around to see Aslan standing behind them. His mane, which had magically regrown, shone in the sun and he looked bigger and more beautiful than ever.

"ASLAN!" Seeing him again made the trio happy and frightened at the same moment.

Lucy was stumped, "Aren't you dead then, dear Aslan?"

"Not now."

"You're not," Susan stammered, "not a…" she just could seem to get the word 'ghost' out. Aslan stooped down and licked her forehead; his warm breath spread all over her.

"Do I look it?"

The Princess of Heart saw that his body seemed intact… but what about his heart. "Are you a… a Nobody?" The Great Lion breathed on her and suddenly washed all doubt away; that one breath revealed the love for her in his heart.

"My heart is still with me."

"Oh, you're real, you're real! Oh Aslan!" The girls threw themselves upon him and hugged him with joy.

Susan looked him in the face, "But what does it all mean?"

"It means that though the Witch knew the Deep Magic, there is a magic deeper still which she did not know. Her knowledge goes back only to the dawn of time." He looked at the sunrise and continued, "But if she could have looked a little further back, into the stillness and the darkness before Time dawned, she would have read there a different incantation. She would have known that when a willing victim who had committed no treachery was killed in a traitor's stead, the Table would crack and Death itself would start working backwards. And now…"

"Oh yes, now?"

"Oh children," the Great Lion said in a playful tone, "I feel my strength coming back to me. Oh, children, catch me if you can." He jumped over them and a merry chase began. The four ran around the hilltop laughing as hard as they could as the girls attempted to catch the lion. Sometimes he would allow them to get close enough to almost grab his tail, but then he would pull away. Soon they were all on the ground, the three ladies lying between his huge paws.

Kairi was still laughing; she thought, "That felt like playing with a kitten and a thunderstorm at the same time!"

"And now," said Aslan, "To business. I feel I am going to roar. You had better put your fingers in your ears." As they did the lion stood and gave a roar that caused the trees in its way to bend like grass in the wind. "We have a long journey to go. You must ride on me." He crouched down and the three climbed onto his great golden back; Kairi sat in the front, with Susan in the middle, and Lucy in the back. The Great Lion rose underneath them and took off like a shot through the forest. He ran faster than any of the girls had ever gone before.

They went faster and faster; the countryside rushed past, it must've been a long way because by the time they saw the dark castle noon came upon them. Aslan didn't slow down, but streaked, like a bullet, towards it. "The Witch's home! Now, children, hold tight." Suddenly the world turned about them and the found themselves tumbling off his back.

When Kairi looked up; she saw that they were now inside the castle walls. The courtyard of the Witch's castle looked strange, statues dotted the dark corridor, in no order. A statue of nearly every creature, same human, stood there.

"What a strange place! All these stone creatures. It's like a museum." Kairi touched the face of a stone dryad.

"Hush, Aslan's doing something."

They watched as he went up to a stone lion and breathed upon it. He turned away and breathed on one statue after another. "Oh, Susan, Kairi! Look! Look at the lion!" At first nothing changed about the lion, but now something was happening. A streak of color went down its back and then spread over its entire body. The stone hair turned to real hair and the stone flesh to warm, living flesh.

The former stone lion shook its mane; it looked up, spotted Aslan, and bounded after him. As the ladies looked after the lion, they could see statues all over the place turning real, and all went over to the Great Lion.

To their shock, Aslan breathed on the legs of stone giant. It began to turn back to itself the giant stretched and looked down sleepily. "Bless me! I must have been asleep. Now! Where's that dratted little Witch that was running about on the ground? Somewhere just by my feet it was." The giant bent down so he could hear the others try to explain the situation to him. The Princess of Heart couldn't help to smile at his honest, smiling, ugly face.

"Now for the inside of the house!" Aslan called out, "Look alive, everyone. Upstairs and downstairs and in my lady's chamber! Leave no corner unsearched. You never know where some poor prisoner may be concealed."

The entire group, except for the giant, rushed into the castle. Kairi ran down a corridor, looking for Aslan, when she spotted Lucy dancing with a faun. "Well, Lu, who's this?"

"Kairi, meet Mr. Tumnus. He was the first person I met in Narnia, and the one who protected me from the White Witch."

He reached out and clumsily shook Kairi's hand, "Nice to meet you Miss Kairi."

"Nice to meet you too."

It didn't take too long for the Witch's house to be completely statue free. When the entire group came back into the courtyard Mr. Tumnus looked over at the large locked gates. "But how are we going to get out?"

"That'll be all right," Aslan told them. The he got up on his hind paws and called out to the giant. "Hi! You up there! What's your name?"

"Giant Rumblebuffin, if it please your honor." He touched his cap in respect to the lion.

"Well then, Giant Rumblebuffin," Aslan said with a 'smile', "Just let us out of this, will you?"

"Certainly, your honor. It will be a pleasure." The giant hefted his club higher up and brought it smashing against the gates. In only a few swings, the gates toppled to the ground.

Kairi leaned over to Lucy and Mr. Tumnus, "He's a real nice giant."

"Oh, yes," the Faun agreed, "All the Buffins always were. One of the most respected of all the giant families in Narnia. Not very clever, perhaps, I never knew a giant that was, but an old family. With traditions, you know. If he'd been the other sort she'd never have turned him into stone."

Aslan clapped his paws together for silence. "Our day's work is not over yet, and if the Witch is to be finally defeated before bedtime we must find the battle at once. Those who can't keep up… that is children, dwarves, and small animals… must ride on the backs of those who can… that is, lions, centaurs, unicorns, horses, giants, and eagles. Those who are good with their noses must come in front with us lions to smell out where the battle is. Look lively and sort yourselves." Lucy and Susan got back on Aslan, the other smaller creatures found rides elsewhere. Kairi found herself upon the shoulder of Giant Rumblebuffin.

Soon they all set out from the castle. The lions and dogs nosed their way about in all directions. Suddenly an old bloodhound bayed; he'd found the scent. Now all the creatures found the scent and took off at a run.

The air filled with sounds of animal cries until they came upon a valley; another sound filled the air, one Kairi heard not too long ago. The sound of metal on metal, screams of death, and the general roar of battle. Then she saw it.

There was Peter, Edmund, and Riku along with Aslan's army. The army of the Witch's looked even more gruesome and evil than they did the night before.

Kairi looked at the small band of Aslan's forces; Lea was nowhere in sight and after her experience in Middle Earth, this made her nervous. She could see Riku and Peter fighting the Witch herself, and Edmund clutched a bleeding wound.

Aslan let Susan and Lucy off his back and then he roared. The White Witch looked up and her face went white with terror. Aslan and the group charged down the hill; the lion jumped onto the Witch and finished her off.

Peter, Riku, and the tired army gave a cheer as Aslan's forces drove back the Witch's army.

* * *

The battle within a few minutes; most of the Witch's army, including the Witch, lay dead.

Kairi ran over to Riku, who stood with Peter, speaking with Aslan. "It was all Edmund's doing, Aslan."

"Yes, we'd have been beaten if it hadn't been for him. The Witch was turning our troops into stone right and left. But nothing would stop him. He fought his way through three ogres to where she was just turning one of your leopards into a statue. And when he reached her he had the sense to bring his sword smashing down on her wand instead of trying to go for her directly and simply getting made a statue himself for all his pains."

Riku nodded towards the young king, "Peter's right, that was the mistake the rest were making. Once her wand was broken we began to get the upper hand, if so many troops hadn't already been lost. Edmund was wounded, he's back that way; ya'll probably need to go see him."

As they left Kairi spoke, "It's good to see you safe, but where's Lea?"

His face grew hard, "Lea, well, he, just let me show you." They walked along the battlefield to a large outcropping of stones. They stopped behind it and Kairi gasped. "See what I mean?"

Behind the rocks stood a perfect statue of Lea. Kairi touched his stone hand, "It would be him to get turned into a statue."

"I don't know how to reverse this, so he could…"

Kairi suddenly began laughing. "Oh Lea…"

"Kairi, why the heck are you laughing?"

"Give me a minute!" She ran off and came back a minute later with Aslan beside her. "Move back Riku." The lion approached Lea's stone figure and breathed upon it.

As with the statues in the Witch's house, life began to spread over him once more. The pyro shook his head and relaxed, "What in the heck happened? I feel like I just got slammed by a rockslide… again."

"Thank you, Aslan!" The lion bowed his head kindly and bounded to the next statue. "Lea, why did you attack the Witch? You saw that she was turning everyone who came at her to stone?"

The pyro scratched the back of his head, "Well, I saw Edmund coming her way and I didn't want her to turn him to stone, so I attacked her. I guess I got nailed with her wand, didn't I?" The other two nodded. He laughed sheepishly, "Oops."

The three made their way back to the main body; the four siblings stood with Aslan. Edmund, healed of his wound, stood there looking better than ever. He knelt before Aslan as the Lion knighted him on the battlefield.

The Keybladers came and stood beside the two Queens. "Does he know?"

"Hush!" Susan whispered to her sister, "No, of course not."

"Oughtn't he to be told," Lucy persisted.

Kairi knew what they spoke of. "Oh no, it would be terrible for him. Think about how you would feel if you were him."

"All the same, I think he ought to know."

"Know what?" the two boys were confused.

Kairi smiled, "I'll tell you later." They all walked back to the camp and Aslan provided a glorious feast for them, though no one knew how.

* * *

"Approach, Riku, Lea, and Kairi!" Aslan summoned them to the middle of the battlefield. "In honor of your bravery in battle…" He placed his paw on their shoulders. "Rise, Sir Riku, Sir Lea, and Lady Kairi, knights of the highest order of the Lion."

The army erupted in cheers. As they rose, Peter came to them. "Do you really have to leave now?"

"Yeah, we do, but we will come back, one day." They bowed.

Aslan breathed upon them. "Thank you for your assistance, and give your master our thanks, as well."

"We will."

* * *

Yen Sid smiled. "Ah, back so soon."

"We've been gone for about a day, maybe more."

The wizard stood up. "For you, if may have been over a day. But, one thing I neglected to mention about that world, is that however long you spend on that world, no time will pass anywhere else."

"Cool…!"

Riku shook his head with a smile. "Well, we had quite an adventure. We'll get some rest and pick up training tomorrow."

"Well, I'm going to bed… later guys." With the wave of his hand, he left.

"He's nearly as lazy as Sora…" Riku shook his head again and followed him out.

Kairi went to follow but the wizard suddenly cleared his throat. "Kairi, I must speak with you."

"Yes, sir…?"

"You have progressed greatly in your training. In the next few weeks, I am planning on sending you on a solo mission."

The princess cocked her head in surprise. "A… solo mission? You mean it?"

"I do." He nodded to her. "Just take some time to rest, and keep up with your training."

"Thank you, Master." She bowed and went after the boys, smiling. She would get her own solo mission soon! And that, excited her!

* * *

 **There you go.**

 **We have one more chapter to go!**

 **Please Review!**

* * *

 **Ephesians 2:10**

 ** _"For we are God's masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things he planned for us long ago."_**


	6. Soul String

**Hi everyone!**

 **This is the last part of this story!**

 **Hope you enjoy it!**

 **Kingdom Hearts © to Disney and Square Enix!**

 **The Bourne Series © to Robert Ludlum!**

* * *

 **Soul String**

* * *

"She's awake…"

The girl's eyes fluttered open slowly. She sat up and looked around.

A man and a woman stood there. The man had slicked back gray hair and was dressed in a business suit. The woman was dressed in a blue dress under a white lab coat and her blonde hair was pulled into a bun.

"Scarlet Raines," the woman said.

"Yes…"

The man sighed, "Good, you remember! I hoped we could remove the false memories, and I was right!"

"False memories? I don't understand…"

He pulled a chair up to her hospital bed. "You might not remember me, but I am Matthew Fairfield. I command a special anti-terrorist group called Soul String; we are a smaller part of a group known as Treadstone. This is your personal doctor, Angel Banner." He adjusted his position and continued, "You are our top operative, Agent Scarlet Raines. A few months ago you were captured by some enemies of ours and they suppressed your true memories and implanted false ones. We were able to retrieve you and bring out your real memories."

Scarlet raised an eyebrow, "Real memories?"

"Yes, now you may still see flashed of the false ones, but eventually they will fade. Now, get some rest; I expect you to report to my office for briefing on your next assignment in 1400 hours."

"Yes sir!" Matthew and Angel left her sitting there alone. She laid back and closed her eyes.

* * *

A flood of memories came to her: " _Hey Princess, ready for your first solo mission_?" A red-headed young man was grinning stupidly at her.

" _Leave her alone Le..., she has enough to worry about without your teasing_!" A silver haired boy, a year or two older than her shoved the red-head away.

The scene changed and she was sitting on a beach with a boy beside her. The boy was her age with spiky brown hair and bright blue eyes. He gave her a goofy grin and said, " _It's good to be back, right Kairi_?"

* * *

Her eyes popped open. "These are the memories Commander Fairfield mentioned. Funny, they don't feel fake; they feel more real than the 'real memories'. I guess that'll fade over time, I better rest and maybe my head will clear up." She closed her eyes again but another memory came to her.

* * *

She was standing beside the two with red hair and silver hair, in front of them was an older man with a pointed blue hat and a long gray beard. The old man was saying, " _Right now we have something else to address; I have recently discovered that an organization by the name of Treadstone, on a world known as Borne Nation, has been using the Heartless to take out the people of their choice._ "

" _Master Ye…, we'll look into it._ "

The 'Master' held up his hand to stay him, " _Not you Ri… It is time for me to gauge Kairi's abilities; she will go to the world alone and will check on the situation. If it proves too tough for just her, then I will send the two of you. Is that alright Kairi_?"

" _Yes sir_ ," Scarlet heard herself answer, " _I'll check it out_." The memory faded away and Scarlet fell asleep.

* * *

A beam of light came down, revealing Riku and Lea; their faces were serious, but there was no missing the hint of worry in their eyes.

"Come on Lea; we have to find her, if it kills us…" They ran off, searching for their missing friend…

* * *

Riku and Lea wandered around looking for any sign of the Princess of Heart. They asked the police if she had been seen; they even hacked the cameras around the city and looked for her. All traces were gone.

The boys sat at an outdoor table near a diner. It had begun to snow and not many people were close. Two men remained at a nearby table.

One had brown hair that was neatly combed out of his face; he wore a dark blue shirt, a black jacket, dark blue jeans, and black combat boots.

The other was younger with brown hair that was combed up and off to the side; he was dressed in a black shirt, over that was a black sport coat, he had on blue jeans, and black combat boots.

"What could've happened to her?" Lea sucked up some tea through a straw as he sulked.

"I bet it's that organization she was sent to investigate… Treadstone, wasn't it?" The pyro nodded to him. "They probably have her."

The red-head slumped over, "Now, all we have to do is find them… without getting captured ourselves."

"Probably easier said than done…"

"Isn't everything?" The two got up and left, neither noticing the two men following behind them.

* * *

Scarlet/Kairi now stood on a street corner glancing around.

She remembered her talk with Commander Fairfield that morning…

 _"Ah! Come in Scarlet! I trust that your recovery is going smoothly?"_

 _"Yes Commander… I'm ready to get back to work…"_

 _Matthew smiled, "That's good..." He pushed a paper out to her. "If you're ready, we'll give you an easy mission to get you back in the swing of things." Scarlet looked at the paper. "That is Professor Charles Daniel. He is a chemistry professor at a nearby college. We have been intercepting emails that contain vital information on our movements. I need you to go into his apartment and dispose of him; leave no trace of yourself, make it look like a suicide."_

 _"I understand Commander…"_

* * *

Scarlet looked up at Charles Daniel's apartment. This didn't feel right. Why would she kill anyone, especially someone who has never done her any harm? It was like this inward force of light was keeping her from doing her job.

"KAIRI!" A voice called. Her arm was suddenly grabbed. She turned and saw the silver-haired boy from her fake memories. "There you are! Where have you been?"

"Who's Kairi?"

The boy backed off as the red-haired boy came up. "Wow! You already found her! What happened to ya, Princess?"

"Who are you?" Scarlet raised an eyebrow. "And why are you calling me Kairi?"

The first boy stammered, "It's us, Kairi… Riku and Lea. You really don't remember us… how?"

She backed away. "I don't know who you are or what you want. Leave me alone…" Her crimson hair flowing behind her, she briskly walked down an alleyway.

They followed her. "Kairi wait! What's going on?"

She turned on them suddenly, whipping out a pistol hidden in her jacket. They both froze, looking completely stunned. "If you follow me anymore, I will shoot you. Don't think I'm bluffing. I won't be taken again!"

"Kairi!" She turned on Lea and slammed him into a wall; the gun barrel jammed up to his jaw.

Her eyes flashed, "Do I look like I'm faking it?" She slammed his head into a metal fire escape, rendering him unconscious.

"Kairi…" Riku's eyes were saddened. "What happened to you? This isn't you?"

She glared at him, "You don't know me! And, my name's not Kairi, it's Scarlet!" She suddenly roundhouse kicked him in the jaw, knocking him to the ground. "I don't know who you really are… but you know too much…" Scarlet pointed the gun at his head.

Riku lay frozen on the ground, but he noticed something strange. Kairi was shaking; she couldn't seem to hold the gun still or pull the trigger. "Kairi…"

"What's going on? Why can't I...?" Riku slowly sat up. "Stop! I'll kill you!" Kairi's voice cracked.

He stood and looked her in the eyes. "This isn't you, Kai…" He slowly took the gun from her hand; his face looked sad.

"YOU DON'T KNOW ME!" She jerked away from him. Kairi's hands grasped her head in pain. "I know who you are! You're an enemy agent; you kidnapped me, brainwashed me, and turned me against Soul String!"

"No! I'm Riku! After you washed up on the islands, Sora and I became your best friends. We three did everything together… Sora and I protected you as we traveled between worlds. Do you really not remember?" She could see the true pain in his eyes.

She looked up at his face as hot tears spilled from her eyes. "I don't know… I don't know… I can't tell the truth… I don't trust you!" She stumbled backwards and began to run. "STAY AWAY FROM ME!"

"KAIRI!" Riku reached out for her. The girl picked up a trash can lid and flung it back at the silver-haired boy.

Riku didn't have time to dodge; the lid hit him in the forehead, knocking him out. As he hit the ground, his blurred vision caught a glimpse of the Princess of Heart running away.

Before he completely lost consciousness, he heard two sets of footsteps hurrying towards him.

* * *

The girl sat in an abandoned warehouse; her legs curled up under her chin, tears rolling down her face. "What's going on…? I can't tell what's true or not…"

The comlink in her ear buzzed. " _Scarlet, why isn't the mission completed_?"

"I'm sorry sir, two of the agents that kidnapped me before tried to take me back. They prevented me from completing my mission."

Commander Fairfield growled on the other end. " _I… I figured they'd come for you again. Return to base immediately_!"

"Yes sir…" She stood and walked away, drying her tears, and composing her looks.

* * *

Matthew Fairfield stepped away from the computer and glared at Angel Banner. "I thought you said that no one in this world knew her?!" He hit the woman with the back of his hand. "If they manage to bring her memories back, she will come after us, like Bourne and Cross did."

"Sir, the memory suppression was 100% successful; do you understand how much force it would take to bring back her real memories? And anyways, the serum is still running in her system, she will be unable to truly remember anything as long as it is in her bloodstream." Angel held her face where he had hit her.

"She was the perfect recruit…" Matthew scowled, "She had no proof of existence in this world, no family, no identity, and no one she knew! Who could be coming for her?"

"Sir, we have known of the existences of other worlds for some time; is it possible that she came from off-world?"

"If that is true… we must destroy those other two, before they corrupt her. When Scarlet arrives, have her report to my office! And give her another MS injection!" He stomped out, fury darkening his eyes.

* * *

Riku's eyes opened slowly. He blinked at his surroundings; he sat in a small apartment, with sparse furniture; he tried to move his hands, but he found them restrained to the arms of the chair.

"What the…?" He struggled, but he could not move. "Lea!" The red-head was sitting across from him in the same position, cuffed to the chair. "Hot-head! Wake up!"

The pyro groaned and opened his eyes. "What the heck? Where are we and why are we cuffed to chairs?"

"Who are you?" Another voice cut in. The two men from the stood there, watching them. "Answer us!"

Riku, seeing no other option, replied, "My name's Riku and this is…"

"Full names please… first, middle, and last."

"Ok then…" he nodded, "my name is Riku Gideon Tsuchi."

The younger man looked towards Lea, "And you?"

"Lea Matthias Fahrenheit…"

The first man approached them. "Why are you investigating Treadstone?"

Lea cocked his head, "Before we answer that, how about you answer me one question. Who in the heck you guys?"

"We'll ask the questions and, if you're in the clear, then we'll answer you."

"Fair enough," Riku agreed. "We aren't investigating Treadstone. A friend of ours was sent to check out something that Treadstone was working on. She disappeared and we came to find her; we actually found her, but she didn't recognize us and tried to kill us."

The older man raised an eyebrow. "The red-head we saw running off?"

"Yeah… her… she's not usually like that." Lea stammered. "That girl would usually never hurt anyone like that… her heart is pure light. She can't murder or do anything like that, it's not in her nature and it never will be."

Riku looked at the men, "We've told you our names and our story, now it's your turn."

"Fine… My name is Jason Bourne." The older man said.

The man next to Jason nodded, "I'm called Aaron Cross. We are former agents of Treadstone; long story short, when we discovered who we were really working for, we left. Our stories are different, but we both want the same thing, to destroy Treadstone."

"We have destroyed every branch of Treadstone we could. There is only one left, Soul String." Jason sat down in a nearby chair. "If what you're telling me is true, then they are the ones who took your friend. They use a new form of manipulation; they take people off the streets, suppress their memories, and implant new ones."

Aaron nodded, "Your friend didn't remember you because she can't. We've freed some people before but none of them have lived long enough to help us…"

"Why didn't they live long enough?"

Aaron looked at them hard. "Treadstone is a network of master assassins; if you desert they hunt you down and kill you. Jason and I were the top operatives, and we've been able to stay alive."

"Ok… but what are we going to do about our friend… what about Kairi?"

Riku glared at his friend, "Lea, we are on thin ice right now, be patient."

Jason grabbed a key and approached the silver-haired boy. "We're gonna find your friend; she might be the only one who could possibly lead us to Soul String." He unlocked the handcuffs. "If you stick with us, once we save her, we can keep her from being killed."

"Thanks…" Jason unlocked Lea's cuffs.

Riku looked at the former agents. "If I know Kairi, she'll come looking for us. When I saw her, she wanted to know the truth and if Soul String won't tell her, she'll come to us. Will they give her adequate answers or not?" Jason and Aaron shook their heads. "Well then, we just get somewhere where she can find us."

"Don't worry about that, if she wants to find you she will find you."

Lea sighed, "Well then… what do we do?"

"We wait…"

* * *

Scarlet entered the base and was instantly approached by Angel Banner. "Scarlet… Commander Fairfield would like to see you in his office right now."

"Yes, ma'am…" The crimson-haired girl walked slowly towards the room. As she entered, Matthew Fairfield sat, glowering at his desk. "Sir… I heard you wanted to see me."

"Yes, Scarlet; I would like to hear what happened out there. All of it…"

"Yes sir," her eyes went to the floor, "I met them outside Charles Daniel's house. They tried to take me back; when I refused, they followed me. I attempted to neutralize them, but they escaped."

Matthew sighed, "I understand… Scarlet, I don't want you leaving the base! We will find these people and we will stop them. You're dismissed…"

"But sir! I have a question…" She stood up. "I want to know who I really am! All I remember is my training here… but what was before that; who am I, really?"

He sighed. "You don't need to know that. All it is baggage; we remove those memories because they'll just drag you down and hinder you. That's all you need to know. Now, report to Ms. Banner, she has some medication for you."

"But sir!"

He stood and glared, "That is the end of this… YOU ARE DISMISSED!"

"Yes sir…" she saluted and left. "He wouldn't tell me… it seems those two boys I met know more than him. I've got to find them then…"

* * *

Scarlet made her way through the city, it didn't take her long to figure out where the two boys went. She approached an apartment complex and went to the top floor.

Room 306 seemed quiet, but she knew better. The red-head pulled a metal device out of her pocket and began picking the lock. It took her under a minute; the door swung open and she walked in.

The two young men sat on the couch. The silver-haired one stood, "Kairi! You came!"

"You were expecting me? And again, my name is not Kairi, it's Scarlet."

"Yes, we were expecting you." Another voice said; she tensed as two men came into the room.

You!" Scarlet jumped back, drawing a knife from her belt, "Bourne and Cross! What are you doing here?"

Lea looked sad, "They're here to help, we're going to save you."

"Save me? They're the enemy!"

"No, they want to help!"

"LIARS!" The girl charged with the knife; Lea and Riku jumped out of the way.

Jason Bourne picked up a ballpoint pen and blocked the knife. Aaron attempted to grab the girl, but she kicked him in the face. Jason twisted around, knocking the knife from her hands. Scarlet punched and kicked at the two men, fending them off, and fighting as relentlessly as they did. Riku, once, grabbed Scarlet's arm to try and stop the fight; but she threw him across the room into Lea.

The fight moved into the kitchen, where the girl was grabbing knives and throwing them at Jason and Aaron. Most, they could dodge but, one lodged itself in Jason's shoulder. The man pulled it out and tossed it aside.

Aaron reached to the stove and grabbed a large frying pan. Jason ducked under a roundhouse kick from Scarlet. He knocked her legs out from under her. The girl fell and Aaron swung up with the frying pan. The metal cooking appliance connected with Scarlet's head. The girl crumpled to the ground.

"What did you do that for?" Lea gaped, "Don't hurt her!"

"We had to subdue her in order to help her." Aaron pulled a zip-tie out of his pocked and bound Kairi's hands behind her back.

"How?" Riku picked her up and laid her on the couch.

"This."

Aaron pulled a small box from his back pocket. He opened it, revealing a needle, filled with an orange liquid; Jason looked at the confused boys. "Their method of memory suppression is done by machine, but it is activated by a serum. This is the antidote. It will shut down the memory suppression, mostly."

Riku sat beside the girl. "Mostly?"

"She will always retain the false memories implanted in her."

"Poor Kairi…"

* * *

The four men sat in silence for thirty minutes. Finally, Kairi began to stir. "Uh… what happened?"

"Kairi!" Her friends smiled hopefully.

"Riku… Lea… where am I?"

Lea laughed, "SHE'S BACK!"

Kairi looked around in confusion; Riku cast Cure on her now, and helped her sit up. "You're in an apartment in the world known as Bourne Nation. You were captured by…"

"Soul String…" Once her hands were free, she clutched her head. "They brainwashed me…"

"You remember?"

"I do… I remember everything now." Tears began filling her eyes. "I'm sorry for attacking you! I couldn't… I didn't…"

"It's ok…" Riku hugged her, "It wasn't you."

Jason knelt down and looked Kairi in the eyes. "I know that this is hard, but we need to continue. We need to destroy Soul String so they can never do this to anyone ever again. Are you willing to help us?"

"Yes…" her eyes flashed dangerously, "I still know how to fight like you. I can lead you to their base and let you in."

"Are you sure?" Lea placed a hand on her shoulder, "I mean you just…"

"I want to help! I don't want anyone to go through that." Her eyes looked from Jason to Aaron. "Will I ever get this stuff out of my head?" They shook their heads. "Well than… might as well make good use of it…"

"Kairi…"

The girl closed her eyes and sighed, "I am ready… let's go…"

* * *

Kairi, pretending to still be brainwashed, walked back into Soul String headquarters. Angel Banner tood near the entrance, "Scarlet! But, you were ordered to stay at base!"

"Oh, I didn't go anywhere, I was at the diner across the road." She walked past the scientist and back to her quarters. It wasn't long before she was called by Matthew Fairfield. "Yes sir… I understand… I'll be right there…" She stood up, taking a deep breath; preparing herself for what she would have to do.

Kairi walked down the hallway, directly to Commander Fairfield's office. She took a deep breath and walked in, "Sir…"

"Scarlet," the man stood and approached, "I understand that you left the premises after I ordered you not to."

"Yes sir, I did. I needed to clear my head."

"Oh… and did you?"

She smirked, "Yes… I did sir…" She walked away and leaned on a wall. "Oh, and my name's not Scarlet, it's Kairi."

"What? You must be mistaken…"

"I'm not. My head is clear… clear of your lies! I know what you did! You kidnapped me and brainwashed me!" Matthew began backing away towards his desk. "I know who I am!"

The man gulped, "My dear Scarlet…"

"Kairi…"

"My dear Scarlet, if this is really your decision…" He turned his back on her, opened a drawer in his desk, and pulled out a pistol. "I hate to say, that we're going to have to let you go." He cocked the weapon. "There is no room here for rebellion…"

He turned, ready to shoot her on the spot, but Kairi stood directly behind him; she kicked up, knocking the gun from his hands. "You taught me well…" Kairi grabbed his hand and flipped him over her shoulder to the ground. "You should have just left me alone…"

"Do it! Just kill me!"

"As much as I would like to…" The princess slammed her foot into his face, rendering him unconscious. "I won't." She marched out, poised and confident.

As the girl approached the back exit, an alarm sounded. Quickly, she opened the door, allowing Jason, Aaron, Lea, and Riku access into the building. "Thanks Princess!"

"Let's move…"

Riku tapped Jason on the shoulder. "Hey, are you sure she'll never be able to forget this assassin knowledge?"

"No, Soul String is designed so that, even if you escape, the damage is permanent. For the rest of her life, your friend will think like an assassin; she will never be able to forget it."

"Why her," Lea muttered, "Of all people, she deserved this least of all."

* * *

Kairi ran ahead, not caring about the conversation behind her. The girl listened as she approached a place where two hallways connected to the one she stood in. A person came towards her from both directions; Kairi timed it perfectly, so when she reached the hallways she jumped up, doing the splits, and kicked both assailants in the jaw.

More Soul String agents ran at her, but Kairi used her new skills to debilitate every agent. She was ruthless, breaking limbs, breaking noses, and knocking them out; but, she never killed anyone.

Soon, she ran so far ahead, her companions lost sight of her. As she turned a corner, a large man stood before her. "So… you're the little traitor that is causing the trouble."

"That's right, and you're in my way." Kairi charged him; the man pulled out a long knife and prepared to meet her.

His arm sloped downward, as he prepared to stab her. Kairi laid down and slid between his legs. The girl grabbed a metal ballpoint pen and blocked another strike. The man jabbed downward, his brute strength causing the girl to stumble.

The knife passed the pen and stuck into Kairi's shoulder; she recoiled, the blade still stuck in her body. "Now… time to take you out!"

"That's what I about to say…" Kairi leapt up, her back to the man; she drove the point of the pen into his gut. The man choked; the princess brought her elbow up and broke his nose, also knocking him unconscious.

As the man hit the ground, an invisible veil lifted from her eyes. The man bled out from the pen wound; Kairi finally saw what she did. "Did I…" Riku and Lea came up, stunned by her actions. "Riku… Lea… did I really do this?"

"I'm sorry, but you did…"

Kairi fell to her knees, dropping the pen. "How… how could I do this?" Tears ran down her cheeks. The girl ran off to the quarters that she had been given as an agent.

"Let her go," Aaron said, "it is hard to take, especially if she is as pure of heart as you say. We need to finish shutting down this place and take out any other agents."

The two Keybladers looked after their friend sadly, but followed the two agents.

* * *

The Princess of Heart sat in a corner, sobbing in horror. She reached into her pocket and pulled out a photo; a photo of Sora. Her friend was giving the camera his trademark smile.

" _Oh Sora, what would you do? I'm scared… I feel terrible… what do I do?"_

* * *

Sora laid back by a fire. As he fell asleep, he felt a tugging on his heart. This never happened before but he knew what it was: the connection of the Paopu fruit.

He heard Kairi's voice in his head, " _I'm scared… I feel terrible… what do I do?"_

 _"Kairi,"_ he reached out with his mind and heart, _"I'm here… what's wrong?"_

 _"I… I did something terrible; I was being controlled, and now… now…"_ A feeling of sorrow reached Sora.

He tried to understand what she was talking about, but he could not tell. _"I'm right here, Kairi… I'll always be here…"_

Invisible arms wrapped around the girl as Sora attempted to comfort her.

* * *

The boys finished taking out the rest of the Soul String agents. Finally, Kairi rejoined them; her face stained by tears. "I'm back…"

"You ok?" She nodded slightly. Her eyes dimmed with sorrow. "I feel better, my mind is calm again."

The other two Keyblade wielders came over to her and placed their hands on her shoulders. "I hate to say it, Princess," Lea looked sorrowful, "but Jason and Aaron said that you will never be able to forget that assassin knowledge. I'm sorry…"

"I'll be alright!" She gave them a smile, and, just for a moment, the color and joy returned to her face. "Maybe, I can put it to good use…"

Jason approached her slowly. "The police are on their way; we better get out of here, especially since Aaron and I are wanted men."

"Alright," the girl held out her hand, "Thank you for helping me."

"No problem. You seem to be strong. You will be able to overcome the pain you were given."

Kairi smiled. "You're right."

Riku gave the two men a nod of respect and acknowledgement. "I believe that we have to take our leave as well. Goodbye…"

* * *

 **Thank you for following this story!**

 **I hope you guys enjoyed it! Please check out the first chapter of my KH3 story!**

 **Please Review!**

* * *

 **Psalm 147:3**

 ** _He heals the brokenhearted and bandages their wounds._**


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